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Family, residents refuse to bury Surabaya bombers

Strong rejection by relatives and local residents has left the dead bodies of those involved in the Surabaya and Sidoarjo explosions in limbo, as no parties are willing to claim and bury them

Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post)
Surabaya
Wed, May 16, 2018

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Family, residents refuse to bury Surabaya bombers

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trong rejection by relatives and local residents has left the dead bodies of those involved in the Surabaya and Sidoarjo explosions in limbo, as no parties are willing to claim and bury them.

As of Tuesday, the bodies of terror perpetrators and some of their children, who died in separate incidents were being stored at Bhayangkara Ngagel Hospital. The 13 bodies belonged to three families who carried out a series of bombings in Surabaya and Sidoarjo on Sunday and Monday.

At least 12 of the bodies have been identified by a disaster and victim identification team. No one has come to claim and retrieve the bodies.

The majority of Indonesians have condemned the attacks, with civil society groups across the country and overseas holding vigils and declaring unity in the fight against terror. Even the relatives of the identified perpetrators stood back and dismissed any relation with the deceased. The perpetrators’ neighbors in their respective hometowns also rejected the idea to bury them in their neighborhoods.

Among those who refused to claim the bodies was the family of Puji Kuswati in Banyuwangi East Java. The police identified Puji as the suicide bomber who blew herself up along with her two daughters aged 9 and 12 at Diponegoro Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) on Sunday morning.

A representative of the family, Rusiono, said the family was “still in shock about the news of Puji being one of the perpetrators of the attacks”.

Rusiono further said the family had not considered Puji part of the family for a long time because Puji had parted ways with them, possibly because of ideological differences. The family also claimed they did not give their blessing for her relationship with her husband, Dita Oeprianto, also a suicide bomber in Sunday’s attacks and reportedly the leader of the Surabaya chapter of Jamaah Anshar Daulah (JAD), an extremist group linked to the Islamic State (IS) network. IS has claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings.

“The family couldn’t accept [their] principles and beliefs,” Rusiono told journalists on Tuesday.

The relatives from Dita’s side also expressed a similar sentiment. Local residents of Tembok Dukuh subdistrict, Bubutan district in Surabaya, where Dita came from, have spurned a plan to bury Dita in their neighborhood.

Dita was identified by the police as the person who detonated a car bomb at Surabaya Pentecostal Church (GPPS).

The initial plan for Dita’s remains was to bury him at Tembok Dukuh Islamic public cemetery, located near his parents’ house. The plan, however, hit a brick wall as local public figures and officials gathered to discuss an alternative for the dead body.

“I heard rumors that some residents refused the burial plan,” Abdul Hamid, head of the neighborhood unit in the area around the public cemetery, said, adding that the final decision regarding the plan would be made at a future meeting between local residents and the police.

The police previously concluded the suicide bombings at three churches across Surabaya on Sunday had been carried out by a family of six. Dita and Puji, who was accompanied by her two daughters, led separate suicide bombing missions at two different churches, while their two teenaged sons carried out an attack at a third church.

Responding to the issue, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said the police would leave the decision about the funeral to respective relatives. In the case of rejection, the state would then take care of the deceased.

“We cannot force [the relatives to accept the bodies]. The government will provide graves for them in Pondok Rangon cemetery in Jakarta, designated for unknown people or those rejected by their relatives,” Setyo said.

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