Woman Beheads A Child for Her Jewelry: The Murder of Azahra Mokoagow, East Bolmong Regency, Indonesia
Disclaimer: This story contains graphic descriptions about violence, murder, and child abuse. If you are sensitive to this type of content, do not read this. Viewer’s discretion is advised.
Tilfa Azahra Mokoagow, known as ‘Zaa’ to her relatives, was a cheerful child. She enjoyed learning The Qur’an and was known to be a smart student in her school. She was the only child of her loving parents. They live in East Bolaang Mongondow regency, Indonesia, at Tutuyan village. It was supposed to be a normal Thursday for her, until she met her aunt, A.
Chronology
Azahra was seen by A entering her grandmother’s house with her mother at around 10.30 AM.
A enters the house after some time.
A asked if Azahra could accompany A to pick some vegetables in the garden behind their house. Before heading there, A asked Azahra to wait because A needed to take her baby to a relative who was going to babysit. It wasn’t clear if anyone knew that Azahra went out with A.
When A came back, they went to the garden. Around 11.00 AM, they both were seen going into an alley around the local market, with a big knife on A’s hand. A led Azahra in the back alley. Azahra complained that she was getting tired, so A carried her on her back.
By having Azahra on her back, and with no other person present, A carried Azahra into a nearby quiet area (unspecified).
A drops Azahra violently to the ground, punches her, and sits from behind while holding Azahra’s hands to freeze her until she is unable to fight back. Azahra was already scared and yelled for her mother. A then immediately covers her mouth and cuts her throat sideways, until her head is disconnected to her body.
A proceeds to throw the head of Azahra inside the sewer, take Azahra’s jewelry, and push Azahra’s body inside the sewer. A then throws the knife near the crime scene. After that, A returned to her home and cleaned herself from the blood.
From the writer’s research, the writer would assume Azahra was proclaimed missing around the late noon to the early evening.
People around the village went on a search party for Azahra. Some people even did a live-streaming of it on Facebook. It was eventually on 8 PM, the corpse of Azahra was found by a local citizen. Her body was found disconnected from her head, with her gold jewelry missing.
Immediately, the local police and intel team went on an investigation. They went to check on the nearest gold jewelry store. The store owner went on saying that there was an unknown blonde-haired woman, holding a baby, who came to the store with a bentor (similar to an auto-rickshaw) that sold some gold jewelry around 12 PM. The lady also went out, with the same bentor.
Police tried to find the bentor and interrogate the driver. Luckily, the driver remembers the lady’s address. Police immediately went to arrest A in her own house and interrogated her.
The Confession
She confessed that after she showered, she took her baby from her relative’s house, went to sell the gold jewelry, and went on a shopping spree. She went with a bentor, and buyed a 0,5-gram gold ring, an Android phone, a sim card with a voucher, milk, diapers, instant drinks, and chocolate. She also went home with the same bentor.
Little did she know, the bentor would be the red thread that connects her with the death of Azahra.
She also confessed that she went on praying according to Islam’s faith, shalat, to pray to God so that she would not get caught. Moreover, she already planned this murder 3 days prior. All the chronological details about the murder are acquired through her confession. She claims that she wasn’t thinking straight when she thought of murdering Azahra. She is charged for premeditated murder and robbery, and sentenced to a minimum of 12 years of imprisonment with the possibility of being sentenced to the death penalty according to the Indonesian law.
Writer’s Analysis
According to the chronological details, clearly, this murder was not an impulse act but planned. However, the chronology shows that this plan is not well-thought and although it isn’t an impulsive act, the killer shows signs of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). From the videos of her confession, here are some details that I acquired:
1. Her posture was weak as if she was defeated. She sat down weakly, with her head looking down.
2. As the police question her about the murder details, her expression clearly shows that she is annoyed.
3. When she described that Azahra was yelling for help, her tone rises which signals annoyance and anger.
4. She did not show any signs of remorse
5. If this was a big event in her life, she would show signs of nervousness, and wouldn’t probably remember small details after a few hours after the murder, due to trauma. But at some point, while the policeman was re-telling her story, she went on correcting the policeman’s statement. It shows that she remembers the murder as something ordinary.
These details and her confession can support that first, with the method of murder, she is likely to be a violent person, or live or grew up in a violent social environment. Also, with how easily she beheaded the victim, she already is experienced in using knives and cutting meat (such as lambs, chickens, or cows). Moreover, with how she went on to sell the jewelry and buy things for her, she shows signs of a lack of empathy, and she acts on her impulse. Also, she shows a sign of narcissistic behavior by knowing that even after she murdered a literal child, God would not let her get caught if she prayed.
It’s heart-wrenching knowing that because of the killer’s selfish desires, Azahra’s life was cut short in a tragic way. I hope Azahra’s soul can find peace, and her family can stay strong through this tough time. May justice be served for the killer.
disclaimer: My analysis is not an official diagnosis, it is just a couple of assumptions based on my knowledge of psychology, the subject’s behavior, and facts about them that I can acquire. My analysis is always prone to the potential of being wrong, or inaccurate if not exposed to the whole truth about the subject analyzed, or the lack of knowledge. I am still a beginner, and I am not an expert. If there are any wrong details that I wrote or there are wrong results of analysis, I will be glad to update the story and analysis. Please contact me if there are any missing details or inaccurate details that you might know better. I always want to provide truthful content for my viewers.
Mini Glossary
The Qur’an — The Islamic sacred scriptures (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Quran)
Shalat — Islamic way of praying (https://www.britannica.com/topic/salat)
Antisocial Personality Disorder — A personality disorder that results in impulsive behavior, insensitive, and irresponsible, that can lead to criminal behavior (https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/#:~:text=Antisocial%20personality%20disorder%20is%20a,care%20for%20other%20people's%20feelings.)
Narcissist — A person who has excessive interest in themselves rather than others (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/narcissistic)
