Vina-Eki Murders Case

THE true facts behind the murders of Vina Dewi Arsita and Muhammad Rizky Rudiana, alias Eky, will only be revealed through the establishment of an independent team. Without this, there will still be doubt in people’s minds over the results of the investigation into the murders in Cirebon, West Java, eight years ago, especially since a number of irregularities have appeared since the two young people were found dead on August 27, 2016.

Cirebon City Police initially said that the couple died as a result of a motorbike accident. Not long after, the police changed their account: Vina had been raped and together with her boyfriend, had been murdered by a biker gang. The police also said there were 11 suspects, three of them on the run. The case came to public attention again after the release of the movie Vina: Before 7 Days on May 8 this year. The police hastily arrested Pegi Setiawan and said that the two other fugitives were fictional.

From the outset, the police seemed to have ignored the search for truth in this case. After a fictional movie with mystical elements telling the story went viral, the police hurriedly reopened the investigation. But the way the police worked was confusing. If they had worked professionally from the beginning, this case would have been solved and would not have come on for so long.

An investigation by Tempo found that Eky’s father, First Insp. Rudiana, intervened in the case. Rudiana, who at the time was Chief of the Cirebon City Police Narcotics Unit, was involved in the search of these suspect houses. This is clearly a conflict of interest as well as a violation of the police code of ethics, and could constitute a crime. The problem is that the National Police Profession and Security Division hastily concluded that Rudiana had not broken the rules.

Rudiana’s actions are alleged to have been covered up by then Cirebon City Police Chief, Adi Vivid Bachtiar, who is the son of former National Police Chief Gen. (ret) Da’i Bachtiar, and who is now a brigadier general and Chief of the Yogyakarta Police. The Profession and Security Division must question Adi, who is responsible for the conduct of his subordinates.

A number of problems adversely affected the handling of the ‘Vina Cirebon’ case. There is a difference between the initial autopsy report and the one carried out after the body was exhumed. The initial report, for example, found there were no signs of assault and rape, while  the post-exhumation autopsy found there had been assault, and that semen was present—which does not automatically mean she had been raped.

It is not too late for the police to establish an independent team even though Pegi Setiawan was handed over to prosecutors on Thursday, June 20. This independent team could determine the role of those accused of being perpetrators and of the police who are suspected of misdirecting the investigation, especially given the allegations that the suspects were tortured into confessing to the murders of Vina and Eky. This team could investigate the role of the prosecutors and judges, who did not look into the police findings in detail.

A fact-finding team comprising experts from a number of fields such as psychology, criminology and forensics, could uncover the true facts behind this murky investigation. It is difficult to hope that an internal police investigation would be transparent regarding the murders of Viny and Eky. The police have even refused to examine the case. Without the establishment of an independent team, there could be more cases like that of ‘Vina Cirebon.’