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Central Java parents charged with murder of daughter in Islamic exorcism case
Parents had their 7-year-old daughter drowned because they believed she was possessed by a ghost causing unruly behavior and would be resurrected.
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During a press briefing at the Temanggung Police headquarters in Central Java on Wednesday, police present evidence and suspects in the case on the murder of a 7-year-old girl allegedly killed by her parents in a 'ruqyah' (traditional Islamic exorcism) ritual. (Antara/Anis Efizudin)
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esidents of Temanggung in Central Java were startled upon discovering the body of a 7-year-old girl identified as A in her family’s house recently, four months after she was reportedly killed by her parents.
The police later found that A’s parents had not buried her, because they believed it was part of a ruqyah (Islamic exorcism) ritual performed in response to her unruly behavior.
“The incident occurred in an afternoon in January. The victim was drowned in a water tub until her death,” Temanggung Police crime unit chief Adj. Comr. Setyo Hermawan said on Wednesday, as reported by kompas.com.
According to the police, A’s parents -- Marsidi, 42, and Suwarthinah, 38 -- went to shamans in Bejen village, Temanggung -- identified as Haryono, 56, and Budiono, 42 -- in January to perform ruqyah on the girl.
The parents believed that A was possessed by a genderuwo, a ghost in muscular human form with thick hair all over the body, which caused A to be disobedient to her parents.
With the parents’ consent, Haryono and Budiono drowned the girl in their house’s bathroom, which lead to her death. After the ritual, the parents laid their daughter’s body in a room in the house because the shamans told them that the girl would be resurrected. Marsidi and Suwarthinah cleaned the girl’s decaying body every week for four months.
