Four key witnesses to testify for David

Four key witnesses to testify for David

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 04/27/2009 9:01 PM | National

In an attempt to convince judges that David Hartanto Widjaja, an Indonesian student who died at the Nanyang Technology University (NTU) campus in Singapore in March, did not commit suicide, his family will present four additional key witnesses at a coroner's inquest in Singapore from May 20-26.

David was found dead after allegedly committing suicide at his campus in Singapore, where he was reportedly having difficulties with his studies. According to witnesses, the student died after jumping from a balcony of a campus building.

The university said David was under stress because his grades had dropped due to his addiction to online games and he was in danger of losing his scholarship.

In a statement issued shortly after his death, it was claimed David was in a meeting at the office of his mentor, Professor Chan Kap Luk, when he went berserk and stabbed his teacher in the back. He then left the office, stabbed himself repeatedly, then jumped off the balcony, the university claims.

David’s parents, however, have insisted their son was murdered, denying he would never commit suicide and claiming they had evidence to prove it. They will underline the oddities found at the crime scene.

The family and an independent verification team filed the case with the coroner’s court last week and gathered their own witnesses to support their case.

“One of the witnesses is a professor whose office is located next to Chan’s. The professor, named Chang Chong Wah, said he thought there was no reason at all for David to commit suicide because he was working on a high-profile, PhD-caliber project,” the team’s leader, Iwan Piliang, said Monday in Jakarta.

David was working on a Computer Vision (CV) technology project, mostly applied in the entertainment and military industries, at the time of his death.

“David was a genius and he never complained of any problems with his studies at all. Before he died, we had regular talks and I did not notice any stress at all in him,” David’s older brother William said.

The team also said they had found many unexplainable oddities at the crime scene. For instance, even though the NTU statement said David was the aggressor, Chan had fewer wounds than David.

“Chan had only five wounds on his body while David had 36. Most of them were on his right arm,” Iwan said.

“However, the latter fact does not match the fact David was right-handed. If it was true he cutg himself after stabbing Chan, then the wounds should be on his left arm.”

He added there was no blood at all found near the balcony, which many said David had climbed prior to jumping.

“David had so many cuts and bled profusely, there should have been blood in the area surrounding the balcony,” Iwan said.

The inquest is a vital part of David’s family’s search for justice to clear his name. If the court rules David’s death was indeed suicide, the case will be closed. If it suspects foul play, a further investigation will take place.

Inquests are common in the Singaporean judicial system. They have the ability to limit the state’s power in stopping an investigation into a case. (hdt)

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