A Trans Activist Who Was On His Honeymoon In Bali Died After Police Detained Him For Alleged Drug Offenses

In what members of the family are calling an “act of racial discrimination and transphobia,” a transgender Peruvian man who was in Bali for his honeymoon died after he and his partner have been detained by Indonesian authorities on the airport for alleged drug offenses.

Rodrigo Ventosilla, 32, was an activist from Lima, Peru, and a graduate pupil at Harvard Kennedy Faculty. He had just lately married his associate, Sebastian Marallano, they usually traveled to Bali for his or her honeymoon.

When Ventosilla arrived on the Denpasar airport on Aug. 6, he was detained on suspicion of drug trafficking after authorities discovered medicine that Ventosilla’s household stated he was taking for his psychological well being and had a prescription for. Marallano, who had flown in on an earlier flight, was additionally detained when he went to assist Ventosilla, the household stated in a statement.

Diversidades Trans Masculinas, a Peruvian trans advocacy group that Ventosilla based, said there was an empty hashish grinder in considered one of their suitcases, which they didn’t understand was there.

Ventosilla’s household stated that whereas in detention, the couple have been “victims of police violence,” and alleged that authorities violated their proper to authorized illustration and discriminated towards them. Ventosilla died on Aug. 11 after being hospitalized within the ICU for organ failure, the household stated.

Bali police denied any wrongdoing and told the South China Morning Submit that Ventosilla had a “failure of bodily features” after taking remedy whereas in custody. It is unclear what substances they have been referring to. Bali police didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

His household stated they have been unable to speak with Ventosilla throughout his detention, and attorneys employed by each households have been denied entry. Indonesian authorities additionally didn’t enable them to order an impartial post-mortem on Ventosilla’s physique, they stated, and they do not know the true explanation for his demise.

In addition they accused the Peruvian Consulate in Indonesia of ignoring their repeated requests for assist and “neglecting its obligations” to assist the couple. The household demanded that the Ministry of International Affairs examine the consul and his crew for failing to take cost of the case from the beginning of the couple’s ordeal.

“The consulate’s motion was late, negligent and hindered the request for assist from the relations when Rodrigo was nonetheless alive,” they stated.

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