LGBTQ rights advocates rallied outside a prosecutors’ office in the Peruvian capital on Wednesday to demand an autopsy on a Peruvian transgender man who died last month after being detained on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Rodrigo Ventocilla, a 32-year-old graduate student at Harvard University in the US, died on Aug. 11 at a Bali hospital. He had been detained on Aug. 6 after arriving at the island’s main airport.
His Peruvian husband, Sebastian Marallano, was also detained when he tried to help Ventocilla.
Photo: AP
The couple, who married in Chile, went to Bali on their honeymoon.
Ventocilla’s body has been taken from Indonesia and is expected to arrive in Lima soon, and his relatives want officials in Peru to determine the cause of death, saying they suspect Indonesian authorities abused Ventocilla.
“He was detained because of his gender identity. His identity document did not match his appearance. That made him a suspect for the Indonesian police. He was extorted, tortured and has died,” said Luzmo Henriquez, a representative of Ventocilla’s family.
Indonesian authorities deny any act of violence and discrimination.
“Everything went according to standard operation,” Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, a Bali police spokesman, said on Monday.
Officials in Indonesia said customs officers found a package of brownies with Ventocilla that they suspected might contain cannabis and turned him over to police.
Officials said Ventocilla was taken to the hospital early on Aug. 9 after showing symptoms of depression and complaining of stomach pains.
LGBTQ rights advocates protested in front of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week, complaining that Peruvian authorities did not independently investigate Ventocilla’s death and welcomed the Indonesian authorities’ version without posing any questions.
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