Examining Victim Precipitation in Determining a Suspect (A Case Study of Marital Rape That Ended in Death)

Abstract

Marital rape is part of the form of rape in domestic violence. Its limited characteristics in the family sphere and cultural construction make marital rape sometimes escapes the attention of victims and also the community. In Indonesia, marital rape is still considered as abnormally and impossible incident, it is considered as impossible act for a husband to rape his own wife or vice versa. In several cases had occurred in Indonesia, marital rape become a trigger for physical violence that led to murder (homicide). For example in the two cases of homicide has occurred in Serang City in 2021 and Cilegon 2019. In these two cases, marital rape occurred which led to murder or loss of life. This paper will examine women who are victims of marital rape who are designated as murder suspects, a case study in Serang City. This study uses a normative legal research method with a statutory approach and cases approach. The results of this study indicate that the determination of woman victims of marital rape as murder suspects in the perspective of victimology does not consider the perspective of the victim’s role in the occurrence of a crime. There are two criminal acts happening simultaneously; marital rape and murder. First, the husband as the perpetrator of marital rape against his wife who later becomes a victim of murder due to self defense (the second case). Therefore, in the theory of victim precipitation, the victim plays a role in creating the crime itself. The causes of marital rape victims who later become perpetrators of murder must also be considered about. The role of the perpetrators of marital rape is active participation which then resulted in his death. The things that attend in this situation must and need to be considered by law enforcement officials, from the first thing when conducting an investigation. This will affect the next law enforcement process. Therefore, victim precipitation must be considered by investigators in reviewing the chronology of the case before determining the suspect in order to fulfill the rights and protection of the actual victims