Peruvian economist, trans man and transgender rights activist who died in suspicious circumstances on 11 August 2022 while in police custody at the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, after being arrested five days earlier by the Indonesian police accused of drug trafficking. Ventocilla was in the Asian country celebrating his honeymoon after marrying Sebastián Marellano. Ventocilla’s family denounced the police actions as a case of racial discrimination and transphobia, while the Foreign Ministry of Peru maintained the official account of the Indonesian authorities.
Rodrigo Ventocilla Ventosilla was a 32-year-old Peruvian economist who was studying a postgraduate degree in public administration in international development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (Harvard Kennedy School). He was a founding member of the Peruvian organization Diversidades Trans Masculinas, and the Executive of the Bicentennial Schools Project in Lima of the Ministry of Education. In addition, before getting married, he did an internship in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In May 2022, Rodrigo Ventocilla married fellow trans-bisexual activist Sebastián Marallano in Chile, a country where same-sex marriage is legal. To celebrate the marriage, they decided on a honeymoon trip to Bali, Indonesia. They arrived at their destination on separate flights. Rodrigo arrived at Denpasar International Airport on a Qatar Airways flight on 6 August and was detained by police on drug trafficking charges for allegedly transporting illicit substances.
According to the account of the police authorities, issued after Ventocilla’s death, his arrest was due to marijuana residue being detected among his belongings. The head of public relations for the Bali police reported that two pills were found in his luggage in a container labelled “Genuis” and another package containing what they suspected was marijuana brownies. The police stated that after his arrest, Ventocilla ingested drugs not seized by the authorities, and that later, on the night of 8 August, Ventocilla suffered a decompensation and began to vomit, for which he was transferred to the Bhayangkara hospital for treatment. In the early hours of 9 August, he began to convulse and was transferred to Sanglah General Hospital, where they could not stabilize him due to his medical history, according to health personnel. Rodrigo Ventocilla passed away at 3:10 p.m. on 11 August. The result of the autopsy, carried out a week later, determined that he died of kidney, liver and nervous system failure. According to The Bali Sun newspaper, the Bali police have launched an investigation into “the death of a Peruvian woman”, but did not clarify whether the focus was on alleged drug trafficking or his death in police custody.
On 23 August, Ventocilla’s family published a statement addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denouncing the facts and the helplessness they suffered from the consular authorities in dealing with the case. The statement reported that Marallano, arriving in Indonesia on a separate flight, was also arrested while trying to help his spouse, and was also hospitalized after his arrest. That same day, Dean Elmendorf signed another statement supporting the family of Ventocilla and Marallano and calling for the prompt clarification of the facts. The family also demanded that an independent autopsy be carried out.
According to the family, the pills that the police seized among Ventocilla’s belongings corresponded to a pharmacological treatment with a medical prescription, and that it was correctly documented. In addition, among other irregularities, the family denounced that the authorities demanded sums of money for the release of the spouses that were increased to 200,000 dollars (100 thousand for each one), that both detainees suffered violence from the police, for whom legal assistance was denied by the lawyers hired by the family and that the Indonesian authorities did not allow access to Ventocilla’s relatives and fellow graduate students who went to the hospital to help. On 8 August, they lost communication with the detainees. The next day they were informed about the hospitalization of both. They also denounced the abandonment of the Peruvian consul in Indonesia, Julio Eduardo Tenorio Pereyra, and that he did not communicate with them, despite the calls and messages, until the news of Ventocilla’s death was known.
Sebastián Marallano remained in detention after the death of his husband. He was released and was able to return to Peru on 17 August thanks to a campaign of donations and complaints through social networks organized by the family, various associations in favour of LGBT rights and human rights activists. Rodrigo’s remains have not been able to be repatriated due to bureaucratic obstacles.
On 24 August, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry issued a statement regarding the arrest of both spouses and the death of Rodrigo Ventocilla, supporting the version of events reported by the Indonesian authorities. It also reported that the Consulate did provide assistance and follow-up on the case, despite the fact that the family denies it. In addition, the statement rules out any hate crime, and recalls zero tolerance for drug possession in Indonesia.
On 26 August, the trans community organised a protest in front of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Jirón Lampa, under the slogans and hashtags #JusticiaParaSebyRodri and #CuandoUnTransMuere NuncaMuere. At the same time, Julio Arbizu, Ronald Gamarra and Brenda Álvarez, the family’s lawyers announced legal action against Indonesian consular officials and for an apology regarding the Foreign Ministry statement. Susana Chavez, president of Promsex, spoke out against the Foreign Ministry statement.
On 28 August 2022, a vigil was held in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Lima. Two days later, the diplomatic mission of the Indonesian government in Peru issued a statement reaffirming the official version of its government.
Link to Wikipedia biography (Spanish)