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View all search resultsFamily seeks justice after TNI soldier dies following alleged bullying by senior
Farkhan’s death comes just months after Second Pvt. Lucky Chepril Saputra Namo died in a fatal bullying incident at a military barracks in Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara.
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Indonesian military (TNI) troops prepare for deployment amid anti-government protests on Aug. 31, at the National Monument (Monas) complex in Central Jakarta. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
T
he family of First Pvt. Farkhan Sauqi Marpaung, a young Indonesian soldier who recently died while on duty at a border post near Papua New Guinea, has demanded a thorough and transparent investigation amid allegations that he was bullied and physically abused by a senior colleague.
Farkhan’s father, Zakaria Marpaung, said the family received information from relatives who also serve in the Indonesian Military (TNI) alleging that Farkhan was assaulted shortly before his death after a senior officer refused to believe he was resting due to illness.
According to Zakaria, his son had been resting and warming himself by an open fire one night because he was unwell when a senior soldier holding the rank of corporal suddenly summoned him and allegedly assaulted him.
“My son was sick and resting by a fire to warm his body when a corporal suddenly called him. Farkhan was then interrogated and allegedly struck on the back with a stick and kicked until he fell to the ground,” Zakaria said over the weekend following Farkhan’s military funeral in Hessa Air Genting village in Asahan regency, North Sumatra.
Read also: 20 soldiers named suspects for allegedly torturing their junior to death
Zakaria added that the corporal reportedly ordered Farkhan to assume a physically demanding punishment posture known in the TNI as the “repentance position”, a disciplinary posture in which a person bends forward with their head touching the ground and their hands held behind their back.
According to the family, Farkhan refused to carry out the punishment due to his condition, after which he was allegedly subjected to further abuse.
