Indonesia police deny violence in death of Harvard trans activist on Bali honeymoon
JAKARTA, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Thursday denied accusations of violence from the family of a Harvard University transgender activist who died after being arrested on his honeymoon on the tourist island of Bali.
Rodrigo Ventosilla, 32, from Peru was detained by customs police when he arrived with his new husband, also Peruvian, his family said in a statement this week on Instagram, accusing Bali authorities of “police violence … racial discrimination and transphobia”.
A Bali police spokesman told Reuters that Ventosilla had been under investigation for drug offenses after suspected cannabis-derived products were found in his luggage.
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Two days after he was arrested, Ventosilla was rushed to hospital and died on Aug. 11 because of “failure of bodily functions”, said police spokesman Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto.
Bayu said that