The family of four, between the ages of 42 and 71 and consisting of a father, mother, daughter and the father’s brother were found dead on Nov. 10 in their home in Kalideres, West Jakarta. They were discovered after neighbors complained of a rotten smell emanating from the house.

Early forensic examinations found that the family had been dead for at least 3 weeks, with the two parents passing away earlier based on the state of decomposition. 

While there was no indication of foul play, empty stomachs and wasted bodies indicated that the deceased had been suffering from hunger and dehydration for some time.

Neighbors reported that the family had always kept to themselves, which prompted wild speculation surrounding the family’s death. While the police investigation is still ongoing, evidence so far points to psychological issues and tensions between family members as playing a role in the case.

At a press conference held at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Monday, general crimes division chief Sr. Comr. Hengki Hariyadi said the police had recently questioned three witnesses that had met with the family in May. 

The witnesses were two mediators and a loan officer who visited the property as the family looked into selling their home for about Rp 1.2 billion.

“When [the witnesses] entered the home on May 13, they immediately smelled something rotten, which [the uncle] dismissed as coming from the gutters,” said Hengki. 

As the witnesses went to see the mother in her room, whom her daughter claimed was ill, they noticed that the smell got more intense when the door to the darkened room was opened.

“The loan officer turned on the flashlight on their phone. Once they saw [the corpse], they shouted Allahu akbar [God is great],” said Hengki. 

The daughter, he added, was in denial at the time and said she still fed her mother milk and combed her hair every day.

As the three witnesses left the house, the uncle asked them to not report what they had seen to the neighbors or the police, which they did not. 

Neighborhood unit (RT) head Asiong told Kompas that he had exchanged text messages with the daughter in September, indicating that she spent more than three months living with her mother’s corpse. 

One-sided chat

In addition to the odd behavior, the police also uncovered emotionally charged messages on a pair of phones shared between the four victims.

“There was a stream of one-sided messages, and they contained negative emotions. Forensic psychologists are currently investigating it,” said Hengki.

Accompanying Hengki at the press conference, Nathanael Sumampouw of the Indonesian Psychological Forensics Association (Apsifor) said his team was currently performing psychological autopsies on the deceased.

“The goal is to compose the psychological state and profile of the victims – how they interacted with each other and their neighbors, their characteristics and their behavioral patterns – as it is important information we need to understand the case,” said Nathanael.

Speaking to Kompas, forensic psychologist Reza Indragiri Amriel said the witnesses’ statements indicated the possibility of murder. 

“If one member of the family failed to provide the other with access to life, that could still count as homicide,” Reza said on Tuesday.

While the private nature of the victims could indicate a problem with the family, Reza noted that their solitary behavior alone did not explain their deaths. 

“Right now, the police must focus on finding out if any criminal acts were involved in these deaths," said Reza.

So far, the police have found no evidence of third-party involvement in the case.

“Crime scene investigation revealed no [external] traces. All the doors were locked from the inside, even in the room where we found the bodies of [the father and daughter]," Hengki said.

Speculation that the house had been burgled because its appliances were missing was shown to be unfounded. The police confirmed through messages left on the family’s phones that those items had been sold voluntarily.