Mira Is Not A Mass Burned Transfusion, It Is A Man Whose Life Is Taken By Others

Photo illustration (Ari Spada / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Mira, a trans woman was burned alive to death by a group of people on Sunday, April 5. He was accused of stealing the cell phone of a truck driver in the Cilincing area, North Jakarta. Human rights groups (HAM) highlighted this case as discrimination by LGBTQ people. Perhaps it is true, although for us the situation is much more complex. Burn someone to death for unproven cell phone theft? This is clearly more than minority group discrimination. This is another proof that the nation's civilization is left behind in humanity.

An institution that focuses on the struggle for equality against gender and sexual orientation minorities, Arus Pelangi highlighted this case. From their point of view, it is clear that this case is a clear form of stigma against LGBTQ people, who in Mira's case are transgender.

Community group in the field of human rights, Semarang Civil Society Network also highlighted the stigma and discrimination perspective of LGBTQ groups. There are three points that they voiced, where one of the points emphasizes criticism of this discrimination.

1. Condemn the perpetrators' actions and demand that the perpetrators be tried through legal channels,

2. Condemn all acts of discrimination, violence and intimidation directed against sexual and gender minorities (LGBTIQ),

3. Requesting the police to immediately arrest all the perpetrators and bring them to trial according to the prevailing laws and regulations.

Photo illustration (Denin Lawley / Unsplash)

We chatted with University of Indonesia criminologist Adrianus Meliala to find out how the stigma against transgender groups can lead to uncivilized acts such as those committed by Mira's killers. According to him, the stigma factor is clear, although not necessarily the main one.

Stigma against transgender groups, which definitely makes them vulnerable to being angry targets. However, there is another factor that needs to be explored as to why anger can overwhelm the perpetrators so crazy. Economic difficulties, for example. There is no excuse for this atrocity, indeed. However, these factors are real.

And this must be addressed. Because, if fundamental matters such as social welfare in society and the promotion of degrees and insights through education are not addressed, the stigma against LGBTQ people will become even more. In the end, the existence of LGBTQ people in society in the future will be increasingly threatened.

"This is a result of the strengthening of the views instilled by several parties that LGBT people are sin, not human, even evil," said Adrianus, when contacted, Wednesday, March 8.

"(If it is not fixed) people (in the future) will no longer need to wait or look for triggers to become angry. Even without a trigger, LGBT people can become prey," said Adrianus.

Discrimination in the realm of law

The North Jakarta Metro Police have arrested several perpetrators of Mira's murder. Head of Criminal Investigation Unit, Kompol Wirdhanto Hadicaksono, said of the five perpetrators involved in the murder, some of them have been arrested.

However, he did not elaborate on the details, including the chronology to the exact number of perpetrators arrested. The case is still being investigated, he said. "The perpetrators have been arrested," he said, Tuesday, April 7.

The peace and human rights institute, Sandya Institute, in a release quoted by VICE Indonesia, expressed concern regarding discrimination in the handling of Mira's case. The information they have gathered is that the police have only arrested two of the five perpetrators who set Mira on fire.

This concern is justified. According to the records of the Arus Pelangi institution, during the 2006-2018 period, there were at least 1,850 cases of persecution of waria and transgender women that were not resolved by the authorities.

One of the highlights, one of which is the shooting case of eight transgender women in Taman Lawang, Menteng, Central Jakarta. Since the incident occurred in 2011, there has been no significant progress in this case.

Burning him alive

The Bekasi District Court has convicted the people who burned Muhammad Al Zahra alias Zoya, the man accused of stealing a musala loudspeaker in Kecamatan Empat, Babelan, Bekasi. Five defendants on behalf of Najibulah, Zulkahfi, Aldi, Subur and Karta were sentenced to seven years in prison. Another suspect, Rosadi, was given a heavier sentence, eight years in prison. He was the main culprit who burned Zoya.

Zoya's case occurred on August 1, 2017. Zoya was beaten before being set on fire for being accused of stealing loudspeakers at Musala Al Hidayah. At that time, Zoya's case went viral because she was said to have not stolen as alleged by the gangsters. The loudspeaker found by the residents is said to be Zoya's own. However, in the investigation, the police proved that one of the three musala loudspeakers was missing. On Zoya's motorbike, identical items are found.

In the same month, one year after Zoya's death, on August 11, 2018, a motorcycle thief in Probolinggo, East Java was also burned alive by residents. Samhadi alias Esam died with terrible wounds. The 40-year-old man is thought to have immune science. This triggered a resentment by the residents and burned Esam alive.

"He (Esam) is indeed a strong man, sir. Never mind being stabbed, even being shot does not work. The residents were confused about paralyzing them. Until the residents were off guard and he managed to escape from the residents' catch," said Hari, a resident of Tiris District, written by Detik at that time. .

University of Indonesia criminologist Adrianus Meliala emphasized this complexity. According to Adrianus, this problem must be handled with a broad approach to the community or community groups. This means, we need a more macro eye glass to deal with this problem.

There is a big problem that must be met by the state, regarding how widely the state advances civilization. Economic civilization, maturity of thought, and insight into the standardization of humanity, in this context. The word humanity can no longer only be heard, but also understood in a concrete form and standardization. Education plays an important role.

"In a group, people can become more courageous, the more prone to rampage and at the same time more sadistic. Including burning people who are still alive. Once the perpetrator returns himself, the person concerned must be sorry and afraid that he has committed this action," said Adrianus.

Obviously, there are still many similar judgments apart from the cases of Zoya, Esam and Mira. However, only from the three cases above, we can actually see the complexity of this issue, about why so many people are so crazy to burn other people alive. And for us, Mira is not a transvestite who was burned alive by the Massa. Mira is a human whose life is taken by other humans.