JAKARTA – Tjong Sioe Lan, known as Enci (59), tragically lost her life alongside her son, Eka Serlawati (35), at the hands of Febri Arifin (31), a man she had generously supported financially in the past.
Febri, who went by multiple aliases, not only borrowed money from Enci frequently but also devised a chilling plan that led to the murder of both victims. Claiming to possess mystical abilities, he masqueraded as a shaman named Kris Martoyo, who could multiply money, and as Kakang, a shaman for finding a soulmate.
According to Kombes Twedi Aditya Bennyahdi, the West Jakarta Metro Police Chief, Febri had been a regular borrower from Enci, relying on her financial support since 2021. Prior to the fatal incident, he manipulated her belief in the supernatural, claiming to have the means to enhance her wealth and even secure a partner for Eka.
“To gain her trust, Febri used two different phone numbers, pretending they belonged to the shamans he had invented,” Kombes Twedi revealed during an interview on Friday, March 14.
In February 2025, as part of this elaborate ruse, he presented Enci with money that he claimed could be doubled through a ritual. They agreed to conduct this supposed spiritual practice at her home on March 1, 2025, at precisely 12:01 WIB.
On the day of the ritual, Eka was also prepared to participate, while Enci stayed in the main room with the money. However, as the process dragged on without results, Enci’s frustration led her to lash out at Febri, cursing him, which ignited his rage.
In a fit of anger, Febri struck Enci in the head with an iron rod twice before brutally choking her with a raffia rope until she succumbed. Following the murder, he attempted to calm himself by smoking in front of the house for about 15 minutes, before turning his attention to Eka.
Using the same iron rod, he violently attacked Eka, who was unable to defend himself despite cries for help. After both killings, Febri concealed the bodies in a water cistern beneath the refrigerator and cleaned up the crime scene.
In a bid to cover his tracks, he turned off the house lights and pretended to be an electric technician when he encountered Roni Effendy, Enci’s son. Under the guise of normalcy, he informed Roni that his mother and sister had stepped out, before locking the house and fleeing with the money earmarked for the ritual.
Febri discarded his cell phone at the Kali Jodoh embankment and escaped to Cirebon. There, he disposed of Eka’s phone before continuing to Banyumas, where he was ultimately apprehended on March 9, 2025.
The translations provided in English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French are generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies; please refer to the Indonesian text as the primary source. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
