Vina Dewi Arsita and Rizky Rudiana, also known as Eky, were both 16 years old when they were killed in Cirebon, Indonesia, in August 2016.

Authorities quickly determined a motorcycle accident was responsible for their deaths.

But the police had to reopen the case even after they had deemed to have solved it.

The circumstances for relooking into the case was strange, to say the least.

More investigations were conducted after a friend of Vina's was reportedly possessed by the dead girl's spirit and even revealed that the pair who died were apparently murdered by 11 gang members.

Eight of the suspects were arrested, and in May 2017 — just nine months after the teens' deaths — they were found guilty of sexually assaulting Vina and murdering the high-schoolers.

However, three suspects purportedly remained at large.

That was until a recently released film about the murder and supernatural possession set the police in real life back on the trail of any others involved — and ended up with another arrest.

Movie sparks calls for justice

What was apparently a cold case became a hot topic of discussion in Indonesia, partly owing to Indonesians' love for horror flicks and the supernatural, and the pervasive sense of injustice of a real-life case that was conveyed.

"Vina: Sebelum 7 Hari", which translates to "Vina: Before 7 Days", is now showing in Singapore to some rave reviews as well.

Directed by Anggy Umbara, "Vina: Sebelum 7 Hari" was released on May 8, 2024, and quickly took the box office by storm.

After just three weeks in cinemas in Indonesia, the film was seen almost 6 million times, making it the second-most watched in the country in 2024.

The movie's synopsis is clear-cut:

Vina, a victim of a motorbike gang's atrocities in Cirebon, refuses to accept her death being labelled an accident. Her spirit intervenes within the seven days preceding the incident to reveal the truth behind what really happened.

The 2016 case

The purported facts and circumstances of the eight-year-old case already make for an intriguing read.

Despite the motorbike and their mobile phones being intact, the police ruled the pair's deaths on Aug. 27, 2016 as a single-vehicle traffic accident.

The family more or less came to terms with it, as they were informed by the police of the outcome of their findings.

Then three days after the deaths, something weird occurred.

Possession of friend

Vina's older sister, Marliana, was informed that the spirit of her deceased younger sister had entered the body of a friend of Vina's.

The brother of the possessed lady told Marliana that "your sister's spirit entered into my sister's body".

Marliana rushed to their house straight away.

"[The friend who was possessed by] Vina's spirit told us everything about what happened, she said 'don't be fooled by the police, it wasn't an accident... I was raped, killed, tortured, hit by wooden block'," she told ABC.

Recording of possession taken to police

Marliana recorded the possession as a voice note.

In the recording, "Pegi Setiawan", the nickname of a member of a local motorbike gang, was mentioned.

Marliana subsequently took the recording to the police.

Going off on what was apparently a voice recording of a possession, the police acted on it and 11 gang members were identified as suspects.

They were part of the same motorcycle group as Pegi.

Eight were quickly found and arrested.

Police seemingly had retrieved or gathered more evidence by this time, including some of the suspects' motorbikes, phones and clothes, as well as some rocks and bits of bamboo, according to court documents seen by the ABC.

Eight convicted

In May 2017, they were found guilty of gang raping Vina and the premeditated murders of her and Eky.

Seven of the guilty suspects were sentenced to life imprisonment, while one of them, who was underage, was sentenced to jail for eight years.

But the alleged ring-leader and main suspect, Pegi, who was identified by Vina's "spirit", remained at large for the next few years.

Film piques audience's curiosity

The film starts with the teenagers' bodies being found and depicts the aftermath, including the possession.

What was portrayed on screen makes for graphic viewing for audiences, especially for those who know the background of the movie, which was already widely known for being based on a true story.

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As a result, many who have watched it have called the film out as "exploitative" in nature, as it was profiteering off a very real and recent tragedy, that has not fully concluded, given the film's depiction of events.

However, the Jakarta Globe reported that Marliana recently said in the film's defence that it has played an important role in the case:

"Among the original 11 suspects, eight have been apprehended, leaving three still at large.

Despite the trial's conclusion, these three have remained elusive.

The movie 'Vina' has reignited public interest in the case, prompting law enforcement to take action.

Our consent to the film was not in vain; it has refocused attention on the case."

Should the story have been portrayed differently?

Some have suggested that a documentary would have been a more ethical portrayal of the murders as opposed to a fictional re-enactment, as this would have eliminated or made redundant elements that relied on the creative licence to craft a 100-minute narrative, which appeared as entertainment on screen.

And such a retelling has had an effect in real life.

With the resurgence of interest in the case, videos on TikTok about the film have garnered more than 60 million views, and the case was transferred from the local police to West Java.

It was also reported in Indonesia that several motorcycle groups in Cirebon, West Java, even had to address the media in late May 2024 following the movie's release, to confirm that their members were not involved in Vina's murder.

Arrest made

Two weeks after the film's release, Pegi, now 27 and a construction worker, was found and arrested.

In 2016, he would have been about 19 when he allegedly committed the crimes.

The other two suspects, assumed to be part of the gang, supposedly remain at large.

However, police have since suggested that any other suspects could have been made scapegoats, and that any additional persons of interest may not even actually exist.

The latest arrest was not without controversy.

At a police press conference in June 2024, Setiwan defended himself: "I never committed the murder, this is slander... I am willing to die to prove that I am innocent."

Since Pegi's arrest, the other eight perpetrators have retracted their admission statements, citing torture and abuse by investigators and lawyers are now calling for a re-trial.

ABC also reported that a movie exerting a real-world impact, via expediting investigations and forcing authorities to act, could make any arrest in the wake of public pressure problematic.

This was so as the authorities could be assumed to be reacting to public scrutiny and pressure to provide answers.

Instead of solving a mystery or getting to the bottom of things, hasty action based on a presumption of guilt, could even lead to a miscarriage of justice as a consequence.

Investigations are ongoing.

Top images from @anggy_umbara/Instagram and @creepyology/X