Rodrigo Ventosilla, transgender Harvard student from Peru, dies in police custody during Bali honeymoon, report says

Five days after Rodrigo Ventosilla’s arrest, and while in police custody in Indonesia this month, the transgender Harvard graduate student and activist was pronounced dead at a hospital in what his family is calling an act of “police violence,” as reported by the Harvard Crimson.

The 32-year-old was a student at the Harvard Kennedy School and had travelled to Bali, Indonesia, for a honeymoon vacation with his spouse on Aug. 5 when police detained Ventosilla for alleged drug possession, the Crimson reported. On Aug. 11, police pronounced Ventosilla dead in what his family alleges was an “act of racial discrimination and transphobia,” where he was denied his basic rights, such as access to legal defense.

Indonesian police have denied accusations of violence from the family of Ventosilla, who is Peruvian and had arrived in the tourist island of Bali with his new husband, also Peruvian, according to the Crimson.

Ventosilla’s family has accused Bali authorities of “police violence” and said that Indonesian police had not released a medical report from the hospital where he received care and was not allowed to communicate with emergency contacts, according to a letter published by the families and reported by the Crimson.

A Bali spokesperson told Reuters that Ventosilla had been under investigation for drug offenses after suspected cannabis-derived products were found in his luggage. Two days after his arrest, Ventosilla was rushed to the hospital and died on Aug. 11 because of “failure of bodily functions,” according to statements made by police spokesman Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto to Reuters.

Ventocilla was a founding member of the Peruvian trans rights advocacy organization, Diversidades Trans Masculinas, according to the Crimson. At the Harvard Kennedy School, he was pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration in International Development as a member of the school’s Class of 2023.

In a statement on Instagram, Ventocilla’s family wrote: “It should be noted that at all times the Indonesian police blocked access to both the lawyers hired by the family, and Harvard students who attended their aid. The family was NEVER able to communicate or know Rodrigo’s health/diagnosis,” NBC News reported.

The family is requesting a more thorough investigation of the incident after the Peruvian government put out a statement last week saying that they had not found evidence of “racial discrimination and transphobia,” according to NBC News.

In a statement from Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf to the school’s community, Elmendorf wrote, “We received yesterday a statement from Rodrigo’s family with their description of extremely disturbing circumstances surrounding Rodrigo’s death — a statement that talks about his arrest and detention just before his death, and that highlights his rights as a transgender man.”

“The statement from Rodrigo’s family raises very serious questions that deserve clear and accurate answers,” the statement continued.

In a statement by the organization Ventocilla helped found, Diversidades Trans Masculinas wrote on Facebook, “we demand justice and reparation in the face of indictments of kidnapping, extortion and torture to our colleagues, Sebastian Marallano and Rodrigo Ventocilla, arbitrarily detained in Bali, Indonesia.”

“We urge authorities to take responsibility for acts of racial discrimination and transphobia, as both were victims of police violence. Their vital human rights such as health, liberty, access to legal defense, information and non-discrimination were violated in multiple ways.”

Relates stories:

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.