Bagus BT Saragih and Yuliasri Perdani
The Jakarta Post
Publication Date : 05-11-2014
The Indonesian government has confirmed that the second victim of brutal murder in Hong Kong was also Indonesian, and has pledged to monitor the legal proceedings to ensure that the perpetrator is brought to justice.
The Indonesian Consulate-General in Hong Kong, in coordination with the Hong Kong police, has identified the second victim, whose identity had previously been declared unknown, the consulate stated in a press release made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The second victim has been identified as SM from Muna, Southeast Sulawesi. Reports suggest that SM is Seneng Mujiasih, also known as Jesse Lorena.
Hong Kong police officers found Seneng’s body at her alleged killer’s upscale apartment in Wan Chai, an area known for its nightlife and notorious for its red light district.
The police subsequently found a suitcase on the balcony containing another dead woman, who was immediately identified as 23-year Sumartiningsih from Cilacap, Central Java.
The suspected murderer is 29-year-old British banker Rurik Jutting, who has been charged with the murders of both women. He appeared at a preliminary hearing on Monday.
“The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has contacted both victims’ next of kin, and the consulate-general is now arranging for both bodies to be sent home to Indonesia at the earliest convenience,” said Pangky BP Saputra, vice consul for the socio and cultural section, as quoted in the statement.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, meanwhile, promised that the government would closely monitor the legal process to investigate the brutal murders and try the suspected killer.
“The consul-general has been in continued contact with the Hong Kong police chief. A reconstruction of the murder is scheduled to take place on Nov 7 and the pre-trial hearing on Nov 10 in Hong Kong,” Retno said at the State Palace in Jakarta.
The National Police, meanwhile, have deployed the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit to help collect DNA samples of family members of both Sumartiningsih and Seneng.
According to DVI chief Sr. Comr. Anton Castilani, his team will send the DNA samples to the National Police liaison officer in Hong Kong.
“Our liaison officer in Hong Kong is tasked with helping Hong Kong authorities to confirm the identities of the victims. We will also communicate closely with the Indonesian Consulate-General in Hong Kong,” said Anton.
Sumartiningsih’s father, Achmad Kaliman, said that he hoped the killer would be sentenced to death.
“I won’t be able to accept it if [Jutting] escaped the death sentence,” the 58-year-old told the press at his house in Gandrungmangu village.
Kaliman revealed that Sumartiningsih, his third of four children, told him that she was going to Hong Kong to work in a restaurant three months ago.
“She had frequently travelled to Hong Kong since 2011. She said she worked at restaurant since the beginning and never changed jobs,” Kaliman said.
A DJ certificate under Sumartiningsih’s name was hung on the wall of Kaliman’s house. When asked about it, however, the man seemed confused as to what it was.
A Facebook account under the name Ningsih Aliz Arnovan, believed to belong to Sumartiningsih, shows pictures depicting the ill-fated woman’s nightlife.
The deaths of Sumartiningsih and Seneng in Hong Kong are the second case involving the murder of Indonesian citizens overseas in the past month.
Early in October, Mayang Prasetyo, an Indonesian transgender woman, was killed and mutilated in Brisbane, Australia. Parts of her body were found in a pot of boiling water.