Christina Sumarmiyati (Bu Mamiek is how she is called by many people) was born in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on 5 July 1946. My acquaintance with Bu Mamiek began with a remark by her son, Benny Putranto, on my Facebook page. On 11 March 2015 (the anniversary of the date when Sukarno signed the letter transferring his power to Soeharto in 1966), I wrote about the 1965 genocide. Benny commented on my page that his mother was an ex-political prisoner as well. Through Benny, I got in touch with his mother via Facebook.

I still remember the applause when I talked about women's emancipation while dancing as crazy Srikandi, the female warrior figure. I also played in ketoprak, and I usually acted as an elderly woman who could say whatever I wanted – this was great for me because I could speak my mind and utter any social criticism. I was indeed really active in the IPPI [Ikatan Pemuda Pelajar Indonesia, or the Indonesian Students Association]. This organisation was affiliated with the PKI. I became the coordinator in my town and I recruited many new members. We held arts events and took part in eradicating illiteracy. My father was the leader of the BTI [Barisan Tani Indonesia, or the Indonesian Peasants Front] in our town, so our home was always busy with visitors from our organisations.

In November 1965 my father was arrested. I knew I would be too so I moved and never came home. They kept looking for me but could not find me and they started threatening my family. They worked together with the head of our village, who called me and said that if I did not see him immediately, the soldiers would take away my mother and younger siblings.

I decided to come to the office of the village head, who asked me to report twice a day at 8 am and at 4 pm. But this was impossible because I went to university in Yogya, which is about 25 km from my town. So they asked me to come early in the morning, at 6 am. After reporting to the village head, I went to my campus and then I had to report again at 7 pm. After doing this for a few weeks, I was still arrested after the celebration of mother's Day on 22 December 1965.