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Mother commits suicide, kills sons
A young mother committed suicide and murdered her two sons, setting herself and them on fire in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, a tragedy allegedly resulting from depression due to financial hardship
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young mother committed suicide and murdered her two sons, setting herself and them on fire in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, a tragedy allegedly resulting from depression due to financial hardship.
Khoir Umi Latifah, 25, who was originally from the Central Java town of Klaten, worked as a keeper at Wisma Perkutut boarding house where she occupied a room with her husband, 30-year-old Slamet Yahya and her two sons, Muhammad Lindu Aji, 4, and Muhammad Dwi Arya Saputra, two-and-a-half-years old.
In the incident, which took place Wednesday when her husband was not at home, Umi went into the bathroom and locked it before pouring gasoline over herself and her sons. She then lit herself and them ablaze.
A boarding house resident became aware of the situation but was unable to assist them with the locked door.
When the door opened, Umi was found dead with severe burns to her body. Her sons were rushed to the Sardjito Hospital in Yogyakarta.
“We immediately administered emergency treatment to the burn victims, but we could not save them,” said hospital spokesman Trisno Heru Nugroho on Thursday.
The youngest boy, Dwi, passed away at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday. Lindu passed away three hours later. Both suffered serious burns.
Trisno said that if both children were able to be saved, their lives would be greatly affected as they suffered third-degree burns.
Police are still investigating the reasons behind the suicide. But her suicide note to her husband indicated the decision was made out of desperation resulting from financial trouble.
“I borrowed Rp 20,000 [US$2.2] from Mbak Turiyah. If you have the money, please pay her back,” Umi wrote in the letter, written in Javanese.
Slamet said he could not understand why his wife committed suicide but denied it had anything to do with economic problems, saying he had paid the debt three months ago.
“Her actions were not taken regarding financial problems or another woman,” he said after the funeral of both his sons at a cemetery in Papringan village on Thursday.
The tragedy has also raised sympathy from people.
Pungkas R., who coordinated a donation to the family, said people showed their willingness to provide support when he expressed his concern over the case on his Twitter account, asking people to show
they cared. “The response was unbelievable.
“Many Twitter users directly responded and donated,” he told The Jakarta Post, adding that as of 5 p.m. Thursday, the movement had raised Rp 18 million.
