Woman's Abuse in Bandung Raises Femicide Risk, NGO Warns

The Indonesian Legal Resource Center (ILRC), a non-governmental organisation, has issued a strong warning regarding the case of confinement and severe abuse suffered by a woman with the initials YT in Bandung Regency, West Java. The tragic case is assessed as having a high risk of ending in femicide, the killing of a woman because of her gender.

ILRC Executive Director Siti Aminah Tardi stated that the confinement and extreme physical violence experienced by the victim are danger signals. “If not immediately rescued or the case uncovered, the confinement and abuse experienced by YT could have risked becoming femicide,” Siti Aminah said when contacted in Jakarta on Tuesday (23/6).

Based on global report data from UN Women in 2025, approximately 60 percent, or 50,000 of 83,000 female victims of violence, died at the hands of intimate partners or family members. In Indonesia, Jakarta Feminist recorded 103 cases of intimate femicide throughout 2025, reinforcing the urgency of protection for victims of violence within relationships.

Siti Aminah explained that from a feminist perspective, femicide by an intimate partner rarely occurs suddenly. Such events are usually the culmination of an escalation of violence, control, and threats that occur continuously. “The confinement and severe abuse of YT must be viewed as a high-risk indicator requiring immediate intervention,” she added.

The victim, YT, was reported to have disappeared and lost contact with her family for three years. During that time, she moved from place to place with the perpetrator without being married. YT is suspected to have suffered systematic torture using bare hands, blunt objects, and sharp objects.

As a result of the long-term abuse, YT suffered severe injuries to her head, face, and legs. Her current condition is extremely concerning, with impaired vision, damage to her lips that hinders her ability to speak, and impaired motor function that prevents her from walking normally.