Police find no elements of crime in Indonesian diplomat's death

The Star

6 days ago

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Police have found no signs of criminal activity or participation of any other individuals in the death of Foreign Ministry employee Arya Daru Pangayunan, whose body was found on his bed with his head covered in a plastic bag and wrapped with yellow duct tape earlier this month.
In a press briefing on Tuesday (July 29), Jakarta Police director for general crimes Sr. Comr. Wira Satya Triputra said that police investigation had concluded that Arya's death was 'the result of upper airway obstruction'.
'The investigation indicated that Arya's death occurred without the involvement of anyone else,' Wira said.
He revealed that only Arya's own fingerprint was found on the duct tape around his head and that the investigation found no evidence of physical or psychological threats or violence directed at Arya before his death.
Wira, however, stopped short of saying whether Arya committed suicide or not.
The 39-year-old junior diplomat specialising in the protection of Indonesian citizens abroad was found by his rooming house guard lying on his bed in Gondangdia, Central Jakarta, on July 8 with his head wrapped in plastic and yellow duct tape. His room was locked from the inside.
Police previously said that CCTV footage showed that Arya, on the evening before the discovery of his body, visited a shopping mall in Jakarta and later took a taxi to the Foreign Ministry building, where he went to the rooftop.
Arya reportedly spent an hour near midnight on the rooftop and attempted to climb a wall there before returning to his rooming house.
An analysis of Arya's email history revealed that he had contacted mental health services in 2013 and 2021.
'There were several emails sent that indicated an intention to commit suicide due to problems he was facing at the time,' a forensic psychology investigator said in the Tuesday press briefing.
Police presented several pieces of evidence in the press briefing, including the yellow duct tape used to cover Arya's head, his laptops and medical records as well as an old mobile phone he used until 2022, while his latest phone remains missing.
In their three-week investigation, police had questioned at least 22 witnesses, including Arya's coworkers, a taxi driver, the boarding house guard and owner and Arya's wife.
Forensic experts who worked with the police on the case found no harmful substances in Arya's body that could have interfered with oxygen exchange. Toxicology tests detected only paracetamol and chlorpheniramine, a combination of commonly used medications for pain relief and allergies, known to have only mild sedative effects.
Arya was reportedly preparing for his new posting in Finland and was scheduled to depart at the end of July. - The Jakarta Post/ANN