Grave looting turns rampant in areas of Central Java<\/p>\n
By Haryoso<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): In Central Java, the spirits of many wealthy
\nChinese-Indonesians who died more than 20 years ago have been
\nrudely disturbed because they, too, have had to bear the brunt of
\nthe present crisis.<\/p>\n
Over the past month, suspicious-looking strangers have dug up
\nChinese graves and stolen the valuables in Pekalongan and
\nSurakarta.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses say the criminals usually came in groups of at
\nleast 10 people. Armed with sickles, crowbars, saws and hoes, the
\nlooters arrived in trucks at all times of day without fear of
\nbeing apprehended.<\/p>\n
They targeted graves of people who died at least 20 years ago.
\nMany relatives of the deceased were devastated on finding the
\nremains of their loved ones had been left scattered around the
\ngrave site.<\/p>\n
Officials in charge of cemeteries have counted 268 Chinese-
\nIndonesian graves dug up and looted in the batik town of
\nPekalongan and another 15 in the ancient sultanate of Surakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The looters would carefully remove the marble gravestone.
\nThen they would take out and open the casket where the deceased's
\nvaluables such as gold are usually kept,\" says Subagio, 40, who
\nresides in Kuripan cemetery in Pekalongan.<\/p>\n
In many cases, especially in Surakarta, thieves also got away
\nwith the expensive marble tombstones and the coffins made of top-
\nquality teak. Such caskets usually measure 2.5 meters long and up
\nto 12 centimeters thick.<\/p>\n
Local residents reported that the looters were all strangers
\nto them. They described the thieves as well-built, fiery-looking
\nand armed with sharp weapons.<\/p>\n
\"With daggers, sickles and army knives, they looked
\nthreatening. We villagers were afraid of reprisals if we tried to
\nstop them,\" said Suparno, 36, also from Kuripan, Pekalongan.<\/p>\n
Villagers who had the guts to go close enough to the crime
\nscenes said they saw looters collect gold and diamond-encrusted
\njewelry. In one grave gold-plated glasses frames were picked up.<\/p>\n
\"In one incident, the thieves failed to open the teak casket,\"
\nSuparno said. \"So they just threw it onto their truck.\"<\/p>\n
Pekalongan Police chief Lt. Col. Ismu Haryomo has expressed
\ndisgust over the widespread grave looting.<\/p>\n
\"I can't stop wondering how people have the heart to loot
\ngraves in this supposedly civilized society,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Surakarta, all 15 cases of grave looting occurred in the
\nJebres Chinese cemetery, where caskets and valuables inside it
\nwere stolen. The skeletal remains were casually reburied.<\/p>\n
\"The looting occurred a month ago. The torch-wielding mob came
\non trucks and dug up the graves at night,\" said M. Sastro, who
\nguards the cemetery.<\/p>\n
Surakarta, along with Jakarta, Medan and Palembang, was badly
\nhit by anti-Chinese riots in mid-May, in which hundreds of shops,
\nbanks and vehicles were destroyed. Chinese-Indonesians in the
\nancient city are still reportedly experiencing harassment.<\/p>\n
Under Chinese tradition, dead people are buried with their
\nfavorite belongings. It is considered taboo for the living
\nrelatives to keep the items.<\/p>\n
Until about 20 years ago, the casket would be made of
\nexpensive teak. Nowadays, coffins are mostly made of less
\nvaluable materials for practical reasons, especially if the body
\nis to be cremated.<\/p>\n
Suwardi, the 40-year-old Jebres cemetery keeper, said almost
\nall of the looted graves were those that contained the remains of
\npeople who died more than 30 years ago.<\/p>\n
He recalled a day when a group of Chinese-Indonesians from
\nJakarta visited the grave of their relatives and found it already
\ndug up.<\/p>\n
\"They were hysterical to find the skeletal remains scattered
\nall over the place and the coffin missing,\" he says.<\/p>\n
Sources in the timber business estimate that a stolen top-
\nquality coffin could fetch about Rp 70,000 (US$5.80) on the black
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
The head of the Surakarta public cemetery office, Soepodo,
\nsaid the number of looted Chinese graves could be higher than
\nreported.<\/p>\n
The grave looting incidents also alarmed the legislative
\ncouncil.<\/p>\n
\"The crime must be stopped. It is disgusting and deeply
\noffensive to the deceased's relatives,\" one councilor said.<\/p>\n
In both Surakarta and Pekalongan, people who had their
\nrelatives' graves looted say they could do nothing to stop the
\ncrime except ask the police to investigate.<\/p>\n
\"In this economic chaos, what can one possibly do about it,\"
\nsays Budiman, aged 38, whose relative's grave in Pekalongan was
\nlooted.<\/p>\n
The grave looting has, for the moment, stopped and the
\ndisturbed sites restored to their former state, including the
\nreplacement of the stolen headstones.<\/p>\n
However no one has been arrested and while public cemetery
\nofficials have referred the hair-raising incidents to the
\nauthorities, the police do not seem to have specific plans to
\ntrack down the perpetrators.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/grave-looting-turns-rampant-in-areas-of-central-java-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}