Written on 31 July 2023
By: Wima Brahmantya
Got a post from a friend in Norway, an 1898 newspaper article about one of the sad stories of colonialism found at ..... guess what!
De Karanganjar!
Here's the translation:
De Locomotief
March, 12th - 1898
On Thursday, the High Court in Surabaya heard the case of Roorda Van Eysinga, an employee of the De Karanganjar Plantation in Blitar, who was accused of murder. The suspect admitted that he did not understand Dutch very well, so Mr D. De Waal was brought in as a French interpreter. 13 witnesses were invited to attend, 5 Europeans and 8 Indigenous people. One of the European witnesses had returned to Europe and the other could not attend due to illness. After reading the documents, the suspect was asked whether he pleaded guilty or not.
The suspect said that he was hunting inside the plantation area when he saw some indigenous people who should not have entered the plantation area, so he suspected that they were trying to steal coffee. He then shot at them, but did not really aim seriously. However, the bullet still hit the right ear of one of the natives. When the suspect saw the person in pain, the suspect intended to give the final shot, but the shot missed. The native finally collapsed and lay down for a while and then died. Dr Wiederhold, from the city of Blitar, stated that the wound was actually not too fatal. Then the trial was closed (Sur. Hbld.)
Thanks to Mark Wennberg
#dekaranganjar #dekaranganjarkoffieplantage #sejarahkolonial
