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.

Read also: Woman charged with premeditated murder in accidental poisoning of 10-year-old boy

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.

Authorities eventually discovered the girl’s body when the family’s relatives noticed A’s absence during a family gathering for the Idul Fitri holiday. On May 16, some relatives decided to visit the parents’ house and discovered the girl’s death. They reported the incident to the police.

Temanggung Police arrested Marsidi and Suwarthinah as well as Haryono and Budiono and charged them with violating the 2016 Child Protection Law and Article 338 of the Criminal Code on murder, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) condemned the incident, urging the authorities to punish the perpetrator heavily.

“This case should be a lesson for everyone that family and society should increase awareness and commitment to protecting Indonesian children,” the commission’s chairman, Susanto, said in a video uploaded to the KPAI’s social media account.

Read also: 'Ruqyah': The mainstream business of Islamic exorcism

While the practice of ruqyah remains popular in many places across the country, it is often poorly supervised and freely interpreted by practitioners, which often leads to fatal outcomes claiming the lives of innocent people.

In 2018, family members killed an elderly mother in Trenggalek, East Java, during a traditional spiritual healing ritual. She died of suffocation after her children flowed water into her to get rid of the evil spirit that caused her stomachache.

Achmad Munjid of Gadjah Mada University said ruqyah remained popular in the country thanks to the rise of religious conservatism in Indonesia since 2000. (gis)

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