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Jakarta Post

Margriet skips police questioning

After being named as a suspect in the homicide of her 8-year-old adopted daughter Engeline Margret Megawe, 60-year-old Margriet Christina Megawe has decided to withhold information from the police in a show of protest at her sudden naming as a suspect

Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post)
Denpasar
Tue, June 30, 2015

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Margriet skips police questioning

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fter being named as a suspect in the homicide of her 8-year-old adopted daughter Engeline Margret Megawe, 60-year-old Margriet Christina Megawe has decided to withhold information from the police in a show of protest at her sudden naming as a suspect.

Margriet, who was named a suspect on Sunday evening, was scheduled to undergo police questioning at the Bali Police'€™s headquarters on Monday.

Margriet'€™s lawyer Hotma Sitompul, however, said Margriet had refused to share any information with police investigators, arguing that such questioning was no longer needed as the police said they already had three pieces of evidence required to name her as a suspect.

'€œThe suspect was not willing [to be interrogated]. We also agreed with her. What for?'€ Hotma said after accompanying his client in a brief questioning session.

Hotma has challenged the police to immediately hand over the evidence to prosecutors.

'€œJust forward [the evidence] to prosecutors and bring this case to the court. We will test [the evidence in court],'€ he said.

Engeline was found buried in the backyard of Margriet'€™s house on Jl. Sedap Malam in Denpasar on June 10. After she was reported missing on May 16, the missing child attracted public attention when the family created a Facebook page for Engeline called '€œFind Engeline '€” Bali'€™s Missing Child'€.

The Denpasar Police named Agustay '€œAgus'€ Hamda May, Margriet'€™s former domestic helper, a suspect in the case several hours after the discovery of Engeline'€™s body.

Agus reportedly told the police that he tried to sexually abuse the girl when she came to his room. The police said Agus panicked when Engeline shouted and he decided to bang the girl'€™s head against the wall until she passed out. The police said Agus then reportedly raped Engeline while she was unconscious and buried her in the backyard of the house.

Agus, however, later retracted his statement, saying it was Margriet who had murdered the child on the day she was reported missing. He also claimed that Margriet had promised to pay him Rp 200 million (US$15,000) for burying Engeline'€™s body.

Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Hery Wiyanto said the police had named Margriet as the main suspect in the homicide based on a number of pieces of evidence, including Agus'€™ confession, autopsy results from Sanglah Hospital'€™s forensic team, statements from other witnesses, as well as results from the crime scene examination carried out by the National Police'€™s Indonesian Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (Inafis).

He also said that Margriet had allegedly murdered Engeline by banging her head against something.

'€œCould be against a wall, could be something else,'€ he said.

The police, he said, would charge Margriet under Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death, and Article 338 of the Criminal Code on murder, which carries a maximum of 15 years'€™ imprisonment.

Hotma said his team was considering lodging a pretrial petition to challenge the Bali Police, as he alleged the naming of his client as a suspect was based on public pressure, not facts.

Hery, however, said the police investigation would not be affected by Margriet'€™s denial of her alleged role in the murder.

'€œThe suspect'€™s confession can be the last piece of evidence. It is not that important. We have other evidence that shows she is the perpetrator in Engeline'€™s murder,'€ he said.

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