Case Of Woman's Body In Suitcase: Femicuda Terminology Still Awam In The Eyes Of The Community

Dirreskrimum Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Polisi Wira Satya Triputra during a press conference in Jakarta, Friday (3/5/2024), related to the murder case of a woman whose body was dumped in a suitcase. (Between/Ilham Kausar)

JAKARTA The case of finding the body of a woman in a suitcase in Cikarang shocked the public. In the midst of the intense phenomenon of femicicides, psychologist Reza Indragiri Amriel said that in this case the motive for murder was not just gender.

Residents in the West Cikarang area were shocked by the discovery of a suitcase containing a woman's body on Jalan Inspeksi Kalimalang Sukadanau, Bekasi Regency, on April 25, 2024. The woman's body had the initials RM (50), and when found the victim's body was intact, but there were a number of injuries and injuries to the left side of the head and bruises on the lips.

The police did not take long to arrest the perpetrator. The Head of Public Relations of the Polda Metro Jaya Kombes (Pol) Ade Ary Syam Indradi explained that the perpetrator AARN (29) was arrested in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Based on police information, the perpetrator and the victim had intercourse before the murder took place. Both were carried out in the same place, at a hotel in the Bandung area, West Java.

The fact that the victim is a middle-aged woman brings the public back to remember the recent rise of the phenomenon of femicicides. The term femicicide may still sound foreign among the community, both men and women.

Komnas Perempuan provides a formulation of the notion of femicuda as a murder that is intentionally committed against women because of gender or gender, which is driven by superior feelings, dominance, or misogini towards women, feelings of belonging to women, inequality of power, and sadistic satisfaction.

Cases of murder against women must be a concern. The reason is, this happens very often in the midst of society.

In December 2023, a husband with the initials JM (61) killed and mutilated his wife, NMS (55), in Malang City, East Java. The murder was allegedly due to domestic problems. Komnas Perempuan said this case was categorized as a femic.

"In the perspective of women's human rights, such murder as the case as a femicuda is murder because of gender and is the peak of other gender-based violence," said Komnas Perempuan member Siti Aminah Tardi, confiscated by Antara.

Another example of a femicuda case is when a husband named Nando (25) had the heart to kill his wife, Mega (24), in their rented house in West Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, West Java. This murder began with an argument over economic problems.

Not to mention the murder of a daughter-in-law by her father-in-law in Pasuruan, East Java. This started with the action of the perpetrator who intended to rape the victim.

Yang is no less horrendous is the case of the death of Dini Sera Afrianti (29) who died after being abused by her lover, Gregorius Ronald Tannur (31).

Femicuda can occur for various reasons, including the superiority of men in the form of jealousy, the offense of masculinity, or an argument that peaks in anger.

Another thing that is also said to be the cause of the femicuda is economic pressure, pregnant couples outside of marriage, attempted rape, and defending human rights.

The chairman of Komnas Perempuan, Andy Yentriyani, said that although the term "femisidah" specifically has only been part of the National Commission for Women's Annual Notes since 2017, the issue of femicicides for Komnas Perempuan is not foreign.

In the context of the femicuda, the murder of women cannot be seen as an ordinary murder, although not all female murders are categorized as femicicides.

"Therefore, Komnas Perempuan continues to develop knowledge about the femisida, including by recognizing indirect femicicides, such as suicides committed by victims of domestic violence or victims of sexual violence," Andy explained.

After the arrest, the police said that suspect AARN killed RM because of the hurt motive. Director of General Criminal Investigation of Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Wira Satya Triputra explained that while inside the hotel the suspect and the victim had an intimate relationship.

After that, there was talk of RM asking for clarity on their relationship. The victim urged the suspect to be responsible for marrying the victim.

On the other hand, the suspect asked the victim to borrow Rp43 million in deposits belonging to the office as a condition for marriage. The money was planned to be used by the perpetrator for the cost of his wedding reception with his wife. But the request was rejected by RM for fear. This refusal made the two quarreled, leading to murder.

Seeing the chronology described by the police, forensic psychologist Reza Indragiri Amriel said the murder committed by AARN occurred because there were things that did not match the wishes of the perpetrators. Reza also believes that this incident does not include one of the femicicide practices.

"This happens because the partner doesn't behave the way his partner wants," Reza told VOI.

Not (including femicicides). In the head of the perpetrator, he did the action not because the target was female, but because her actions were annoying, Reza added.

Determining whether a murder case with a female victim, including a femicuda or not, is still a concern at this time. Moreover, the term femicuda is not yet popular in Indonesia.

As a result, data collection between general killings and femicicides is not yet available, so the handling is minimal. In fact, Andy Yentriyani emphasized, this is important to prevent potential violence that has the potential to lead to femicicides, such as domestic violence that lead to murder.