Wife's Domestic Violence In Bekasi Leads To Death, Legislators Encourage Marriage Counseling Programs To Be Intensified

JAKARTA - Commission VIII of the House of Representatives encourages the intensifying of the marriage counseling program to minimize domestic violence cases such as what happened in Bekasi that led to the death of his wife in the hands of her husband.

"The lack of guidance on religious and household counseling before marriage and after marriage is the trigger for an argument," said Member of Commission VIII DPR, Selly Andriany Change, Friday, September 15.

As previously reported, Mega Sriyani Dewi was killed by her husband, Nando (25) at their rented house, on Jalan Cikedokan, West Cikarang, Bekasi Regency after the two of them got into an argument. Even before the murder, the victim always received harsh treatment from her husband.

Ironically, the victim had reported the domestic violence case to the Bekasi Metro Police but was allegedly stopped because her husband wanted to end in peace. As a result of the authorities' lack of seriousness in handling the domestic violence case, the victim finally died after being involved in an argument with her husband.

In fact, according to the victim's brother's confession, Mega has included post-mortem evidence of the violence committed by her husband for a period of 3 years. If it is true that the police suspect that the police have stopped the case, Puan assesses that the sensitivity of the officers to domestic violence victims is still lacking, so the perpetrators commit repeated acts of violence.

Based on police information, the motive for the MDS murder was because the perpetrator was hurt by his wife's statement. Because there is a factor in the economic gap between the perpetrator and the victim.

"Whatever the reason, there is no justification for acts of violence in the household," said Selly.

The Commission in the House of Representatives in charge of social affairs and empowerment of women and child protection also assessed the need for the Government to help provide regular assistance to married couples. Moreover, said Selly, for young couples who are still often hit by emotional turmoil.

"And in providing assistance, there must be massive education and cross-ministerial/institutional cooperation so that assistance provided to couples and prospective married couples can run optimally," he said.

In addition to assistance from a religious perspective, the Government is considered to need to pay attention to the social side and empathy considering that marriage is closely related to matters of taste. Selly said that every bride and groom couple must receive deep socialization regarding the Marriage Law.

"The law clearly states that every couple must respect each other in joy and sorrow, but this is sometimes understood because of the unstable emotional turmoil. That's where the state is present to provide assistance and education," said the former Deputy Regent of Cirebon.

Selly also assessed that the lack of law enforcement in the domestic violence case had an impact on cases of domestic violence again. He alluded to the frequentity of the police considering that the domestic violence problem could still be resolved in a friendly manner.

"I see that from the start the victims did not know who to get protection from, so the function of the state with so many laws that had been made remained barren and the people did not know what to do when experiencing domestic violence and who they complained to," explained Selly.

Based on data from the Ministry of PPPA, the number of domestic violence cases in Indonesia has decreased in the past year. However, the figure is still relatively high, namely 15,192 cases in 2021, and 14,989 cases in 2022.

Of this number, the majority of domestic violence victims were women, which was 92.5 percent. The rest, namely 7.5 percent, are men. The most common forms of violence were psychological violence, which was 73.2 percent. Followed by physical violence 22.6 percent, sexual violence 3.5 percent, and household neglect 0.7 percent.

Seeing the high number of domestic violence cases, the government and law enforcement are reminded to be able to suppress incidents of violence in the household. Selly said this included a quick and efficient investigation and a fair trial to ensure that the perpetrators were punished accordingly.

"In addition, the Government must provide adequate services and support for victims of domestic violence. This includes crisis centers, counseling, temporary housing, and access to medical services," he explained.

Not only that, Selly also asked the Government to continue to support women's empowerment programs that involve skills training, access to work, and education. This can help women get out of dangerous situations and become more independent.

"For other reasons, usually the victim survives in the middle of a domestic violence marriage because of economic problems. Usually the wife is worried that she will not be able to pay for her children if she separates from her husband so that she survives even though she continues to experience violence," said Selly.

"So there must be concrete steps to support women's empowerment, so that domestic violence victims are confident that they can be economically independent when deciding to separate from their husbands who often torture them," he added.

Selly also underlined the importance of assistance and counseling for children victims of domestic violence. In the case of the husband's murder in Bekasi, their two children were known to have been at the scene when the murder took place even though they were said to have not seen firsthand.

"Assistance is needed to relieve children's trauma. And this program is quite important so that domestic violence does not occur from children who see their parents being perpetrators or victims of domestic violence. This is related to the inner child," concluded Selly.