8. The Voice from 18 Years of Silence

The arrival of Suwasto – the former Mathematics teacher at Togi and Mala’s school – certainly garnered the most attention from the public in the second hearing of Warih’s case. This was because Suwasto was mentioned as the only living witness who knew what actually happened to Mala 18 years ago.

The man, now 67 years old, was short in stature, had a broad forehead, and his hair had turned white. While he used to have a somewhat stocky build, he now appeared as lean as Warih.

There was no smile on his face. The only thing left on the teacher’s countenance was a gleam of trauma mirrored in his eyes, akin to the one reflected in Warih’s eyes.

After taking the oath, a courtroom security officer, along with Suwasto’s daughter, immediately seated Suwasto in the witness chair. Once he cleared his throat in his seat, the eyes of all the courtroom visitors were now focused on him.

“Is this witness in good health and able to speak fluently?” Judge Autar inquired, turning towards Suwasto’s daughter seated in the front row of the audience.

“Yes, Your Honor,” replied the daughter with a smile.

“In that case… legal counsel?” Judge Autar asked, turning his attention to Togi. 

Togi took a deep breath and now gazed at his former Mathematics teacher from his past – a teacher who was also a favorite of his and Mala’s – with a look full of sorrow.

Eighteen years ago, there used to be laughter frequently etched on the man’s face, occasionally accompanied by stern glares. However, everything that had happened seemed to have completely transformed him into a forlorn man. He appeared nervous and full of fear at the gazes of everyone in the courtroom.

“Mr. Suwasto,” Togi addressed him, “to enlighten everyone on the circumstances leading to your prolonged absence without explanation, I would like to inquire about a few matters. I trust this is acceptable to you?”

Suwasto nodded before responding to Togi’s question, “It’s fine.”

“For 18 years, you were the sole witness to this case, knowing everything that happened to the victim. However, you disappeared from the Penjaringan area with your wife and daughter just eight days after the incident. Where did you actually go at that time?”

Suwasto swallowed hard, his face filled with guilt. “My family took me back to my hometown in Blitar.”

“May I know why your family suddenly took you to Blitar?” Togi asked again.

“At that time, I was just an elementary school teacher with a modest income,” Suwasto replied. “During the monetary crisis, even after taking on a part-time job as a freelance motorcycle taxi driver at night, I still struggled to earn extra income to pay for our house rent. My late wife was also pregnant with our second child at that time.”

“On May 13, 1998, I suffered severe torture all over my body, especially on my head. As a result of that, I was rushed by the people who found me to the hospital. There, I suffered a stroke. Then two days later, I was officially diagnosed with global aphasia, which made it very difficult for me to speak and understand words for a long time.”

“On the seventh day of my hospital stay — precisely on May 20 — several people suddenly came to visit my wife there. They claimed to know a lot about me and asked my wife to leave Jakarta and take me with her. They said that if we chose to stay in Jakarta, I would be killed.”

“My wife, who was very frightened by their threats at the time, then brought me and our child back to my hometown on May 21 — with me in a condition where I still couldn’t move or speak at all. My wife was also heavily pregnant at that time. Out of fear, she even left many belongings in our rented house and immediately booked a travel car to go back to Blitar.”

“Until seven years ago, my wife still refused to talk about those threats at all. She didn’t even want to tell me who they were or what their characteristics were. Even though, by 2006, I had started to regain my ability to speak and understand words.” 

“Perhaps seeing me go through severe depression and trauma had traumatized my wife as well. She only revealed everything to me toward the end of her life.“

“None of my other family members at that time knew that what happened to me was related to Mala’s case. I don’t know why, but I didn’t talk about it myself.” 

“As time passed, I became increasingly afraid to read any information about the events of May 1998… or even hear people talk about it. Everything seemed to be buried inside my head… until you came to my house in Blitar last year to convince me to testify.”

Togi nodded. “Mr. Suwasto, you were found by some people on the morning of May 14th on the outskirts of the Jembatan Tiga road. Mala’s body was discovered in the Kali Angke area on May 17th. You yourself admitted to me that you were with Mala throughout the night on the 13th. What happened that you could then be found in two different places?”

Suwasto tilted his head in confusion. “I don’t understand either. The information that Mala’s body was found in Kali Angke, and that I was actually found in the Jembatan Tiga area – I only learned that from your mouth when you met me. My late wife never told me where I was found before.”

“You don’t think that you should have been found there?”

“No, that’s not the location where I was assaulted until unconscious. The same goes for Mala. She shouldn’t have been there.”

Togi furrowed his brows. “Where should you have been found that morning?”

“Peluit Mas area. Mala and I were supposed to be found there. That’s the actual incident location.”

“Peluit Mas? That’s an upper-middle-class area and the place where the victim’s coins were discovered by volunteers searching for her,” Togi muttered. “May I inquire, precisely… in which part of Peluit Mas do you believe was the location where you were supposed to have experienced the assault?”

Suwasto became quiet for a moment, his expression tense and slightly uncomfortable.

“I was supposed to be found in front of the house of one of the high-ranking law enforcement officials in our country,” he replied, his voice starting to quiver. “I-I think, without mentioning names, everyone already knows whose house I’m referring to. However, perhaps it’s better—”

“During the incident, did anyone from that house come to your aid or the victim?” Togi inquired again, cutting off Suwasto’s words.

“To be honest, I can’t draw any conclusions about him and the people in his house at that time. When conditions in various places were chaotic, many people temporarily moved to safer locations. At that time, indeed, the house was very quiet. So, I’m not sure whether accusing him of involvement in this, as rumored, is accurate or not.”

“But you acknowledge that you were discovered in a different place than where you were supposed to be?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a possibility that the assailants who attacked you are the ones who moved you?”

Suwasto tilted his head in thought. “It’s possible, but from what I remember, they had left quite a while before I eventually blacked out.”

“Do you remember what time it was?”

“No, I don’t remember. It was probably close to midnight.”

Togi then decided not to pursue further questions on that topic. “I will ask about something else now. May I know why you were wandering around on the night of May 13th, when the situation was quite chaotic around you?”

“My second child was about to be born, and we needed money,” Suwasto answered honestly. “That’s why I worked as a freelance motorcycle taxi driver at night. I also heard that there were still one or two people in our area who needed transportation.”

“So, I eventually took the risk to go out to work, considering that… our area wouldn’t possibly get as turbulent as other areas. When I left home, I wasn’t aware that the riots had actually spread to many places, including Jembatan Tiga.”

“Was that what led you to encounter the victim Mala on the evening of May 13th?”

“Yes, I… encountered Mala while I was working as a motorcycle taxi driver.”