Family demand answers after transgender Harvard student dies in Bali police custody on honeymoon

The family of a transgender Harvard student who died under mysterious circumstances while in police custody in Bali, Indonesia, have demanded an official probe into his death.

Rodrigo Ventosilla, a 32-year-old from Lima, Peru, was detained on 6 August at Denpasar Airport after he arrived in Bali to celebrate his honeymoon with his husband, Sebastian Marallano.

Indonesian authorities reportedly found drugs in his luggage that his family have since said were prescribed, Buzzfeed News reported. A statement by an advocacy group founded by Mr Ventosilla also stated that an empty cannabis grinder — which Mr Ventosilla was reportedly not aware was there — was found among his belongings.

Mr Marallano arrived on a later flight and was arrested when he inquired authorities about his spouse’s legal issues, the family said in a statement. They also claimed Mr Ventosilla was not allowed to communicate with lawyers hired by the family or Harvard students who arrived on the resort island to help the newlywed couple.

Mr Ventosilla died on 11 August at a hospital where he’d been taken after he became ill two days earlier. The family said during a press conference that his body has yet to be repatriated and a cause of death has not been determined as Indonesian officials refuse to perform an autopsy.

On Monday, Mr Ventosilla’s family announced that they had filed a lawsuit against Peruvian authorities who failed to expeditiously provide resources to Mr Ventosilla and Mr Marallano.

They also sued the Peruvian consulate in Bali, which they said was notified of the couple’s arrest on day one but only responded to pleas from Mr Ventosilla’s family after he died.

“We demand that the Ministry of Foreign Affair assume its responsibility for neglecting its obligations and carry out an investigation into the actions and omissions of Consul Julio Eduardo Tenorio Pereyra, chronologically, from the first day of [Mr Ventosilla’s] arrest, and of the team charge of the case,” the family said in a statement last week.

They also asked Peruvian authorities to push Indonesia for a thorough investigation into Mr Ventosilla’s death.

“We request that the Peruvian State require the Indonesian government to hand over the investigations into the irregular actions of the police in Denpasar, Bali, hand over their medical records and sanctions for the indications of kidnapping, extortion and torture of people from the LGTBIQ+ community.”

Although authorities in Peru initially dismissed the demands, outrage for the lack of clarity surrounding the circumstances in which Mr Ventosilla died prompted them to ask Indonesia to open an inquiry, the Washington Post reported.

Bali police officials have denied any violence in the arrest and have closed the case. An unnamed police officer told Reuters that Mr Ventosilla died of “failure of bodily functions” after he took medications that were not confiscated by police.

Mr Ventosilla had just finished an internship in South Africa for the non-profit Harambee. He was set to return to the Harvard campus in Cambridge, where he was getting his masters in public administration.

In a statement last week, the Harvard Kennedy School said: “We received yesterday a statement from Rodrigo’s family with their description of extremely disturbing circumstances surrounding Rodrigo’s death—a statement that talks about his arrest and detention just before his death, and that highlights his rights as a transgender man.

“The statement from Rodrigo’s family raises very serious questions that deserve clear and accurate answers. Harvard Kennedy School supports the family’s call for an immediate and thorough investigation and for public release of all relevant information, and the School stands with all of Rodrigo’s friends and colleagues and with the LGBTQ+ community.”

The family alleged Mr Ventosilla had been tortured and that they had received ransom demands from police asking from $13,000 to $100,000 to allow the couple to return to their country.

Indonesian authorities denied the accusations and told the South China Morning Post that the arrest had not been motivated by transphobia and racial discrimination.

Mr Marallano has since returned to Peru, but Mr Ventosilla’s body has yet to be repatriated. The family said authorities in the South Asian country have not authorised the release of medical records from the hospital where Mr Ventosilla died.

Mr Ventosilla’s death has sparked several protests across Lima, and in front of the Indonesian embassy in the city. A vigil was held for the Harvard student on Sunday in the Sunset Park neighbourhood in Brooklyn.