The deadliest wait Inside the lives of five women on death row

There are between 500 and 1,000 women on death row in at least 42 countries, according to a 2023 report by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Mitigating factors such as child abuse and coercion are often ignored. Women sentenced to death are usually subjected to worse living conditions in prison, such as increased security and solitary confinement

- Sarah Johnson

Indonesia

Rosita Said Drug trafficking

Rosita Said, 43, has been detained since 23 August 2015. Raised in West Sumatra, she dropped out of education after primary school due to financial hardship. Married twice and suffering from domestic violence, she moved to Jakarta in search of a better life.

While working as a shop assistant, she met a man, Emeka Samuel, who showed kindness and supported her financially. She fell in love with him, he converted to Islam, and they married.

Three months into the marriage, Said noticed that Samuel would receive calls from unknown numbers. She accused him of infidelity and he eventually admitted that the calls were related to a new business opportunity: drugs.

Said was horrified but feared another failed marriage would bring deep shame to herself and her family. When Samuel asked her to find someone to transport and handle drugs, she agreed.

At one point, she passed 5,500,000 Indonesian rupiah ($330) on to the person she had found, Rubiyanti Hasyim, at Samuel’s request.

On 21 August 2015, Samuel informed Said that a drugs shipment was ready for collection. Police raided the operation, and later arrested Hasyim, who said Samuel and Said were responsible.

The pair were sentenced to death. Her lawyer Aisya Humaida said: “The court failed to take into account her background, the gendered vulnerabilities she faced, and her limited understanding of Samuel’s criminal activities.”

A study by Indonesian human rights organisation LBH Masyarakat (Community Legal Aid Institute) found 27% of 307 women surveyed who were imprisoned for drug offences said they had been influenced by an intimate partner.

As of August this year, there were 10 women out of 594 total inmates on death row in the country for drug crimes or murder. There has been a de facto moratorium on executions in Indonesia since 2016.

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