The Jakarta Globe, Jul 02, 2015
Jakarta. The foster mother of Engeline – an 8-year-old girl found murdered last month in Bali – submitted a pretrial motion on Thursday challenging the Bali Police’s decision to name her a suspect for alleged murder.
“We are coming to the Denpasar District Court to lodge a challenge against the Bali Police today,” Dion Pongkor, a lawyer of Margaret Christine Megawe, told news portal Republika.com on Thursday.
Dion claimed that the evidence used by the police to name his client a suspect was not sufficient and not in accordance with article 184 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).
“We will prove it during the trial at the court,” he said.
It was not immediately clear if Margaret would also challenge the police for naming her as suspect for child neglect.
Dion said that Margaret would not give any testimony as a suspect during the murder trial.
“The suspect is Agus. She declines to testify as a suspect,” Dion was quoted as saying by Kriminalitas.com.
Agus, 25, a former domestic worker for the family, confessed to sexually assaulting the 8-year-old before killing her and disposing of her body, according to police.
On Sunday, however, Bali Police accused Margaret of being involved in the murder of Engeline, whose body was found at the back of her home in Denpasar nearly a month after she went missing.
After questioning more than 30 witnesses in the investigation, police said they had found enough evidence to name Margaret a suspect.
Engeline’s murder has gripped the nation, inciting anger and regret over her tragic life before her violent death. There have since been numerous calls for a review of Indonesia’s child protection laws.
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vr 3 jul 2015 - 5:48