Funeral held for transgender woman murdered by husband in Australia
An Indonesian transgender woman who was brutally murdered and dismembered by her own husband has finally been laid to rest.
The remains of 27-year-old Mayang Prasetyo were discovered in her Brisbane apartment last month – while her husband Marcus Volke fled police and later took his own life.
Volke had been attempting to dispose of Ms Prasetyo’s remains by boiling them – while police theorise the murder was domestic violence that ‘got out of hand’.
Today, Ms Prasetyo was finally laid to rest in Bandar Lampung, after being repatriated from Australia.
Her mother Nining Sukarni said: “Everyone has been very helpful.
“Friends, neighbours, even people from the related government offices. Many of them came to her funeral.”
Press in Australia had been strongly criticized for the insensitive coverage of the murder, focussing on Ms Prasetyo’s gender and her past as a sex worker, using transphobic slurs, and printing photos of her modelling beach wear.
The Brisbane Courier-Mail ran a front page picture of the scantily-clad murder victim with the offensive headline ‘Monster chef and the she-male’
The newspaper later said in an editorial on page 62 of a later edition: “Every mainstream media outlet in Queensland had published identical facts about Mayang and her killer’s gender and profession as well as the same pictures.
“We responded at the time, restating that Mayang was the innocent victim of a dreadful crime, and that publication of the details of her life and murder were never in any way intended to disrespect her or upset her family.
“Her mother, who we were in contact with, through the week never expressed offense.
“In our reporting, we never intended to offend any member of the community. Clearly the coverage did, unintentionally, offend the LGBT community and others, and for that the newspaper is sorry.”
