Indonesia police deny violence after Harvard student dies on honeymoon in Bali
- Rodrigo Ventosilla’s family said the Peruvian transgender activist, arrested on drug charges, was a victim of police mistreatment and transphobic
- Bali police said Ventosilla fell ill after ingesting medication and died in hospital due to ‘failure of bodily functions’
Rodrigo Ventosilla, 32, from Peru was detained by customs police when he arrived with his new husband, also Peruvian, his family said in a statement this week on Instagram, accusing Bali authorities of “police violence … racial discrimination and transphobic”.
A Bali police spokesman said that Ventosilla had been under investigation for drug offences after suspected cannabis-derived products were found in his luggage.
Two days after he was arrested, Ventosilla was rushed to hospital and died on August 11 because of “failure of bodily functions”, said police spokesman Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto.
Bayu said that Ventosilla fell ill after ingesting medication that was not part of the items confiscated by police.
Ventosilla’s family said they did not know the cause of his death but said he was denied access to legal defence and information. Police spokesman Bayu did not answer those accusations nor those of the force being transphobic, but said there had been no violence and the case was now closed.