Man commits crime to pay for son's hospital bills<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A defendant at a robbery hearing told the court
\non Monday that he had to commit the crime simply to cover his
\nthree-year-old son's Rp 650,000 (US$94) hospital bill.<\/p>\n
\"I had no money to pay for my son's hospital fees. Therefore,
\nI accepted my friend's offer to take part in the crime,\"
\ndefendant Surya Bugis, alias Alex, told the Central Jakarta
\nDistrict Court.<\/p>\n
Alex and his four companions, Acid, Uwo, Ucok and Yanto, who
\nare still at large, were charged by prosecutors for having
\nsnatched a bag from a woman who was having lunch with her husband
\non March 22 this year at the Soto Babat restaurant on Jl. Kramat
\nRaya.<\/p>\n
The gang of five were parking attendants at the site.<\/p>\n
According to Alex, it was Ucok who offered him the chance to
\nparticipate in the wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
At the beginning, he recalled, he doubted whether he should
\naccept the offer. He then changed his mind after he thought of
\nhis son, Riphal Suryansyah Bugis, who was being treated at Titi
\nMurni Medical Clinic on Jl. Kramat Raya.<\/p>\n
Riphal had been treated for fever for two weeks at the
\nhospital, he said. Alex had been told that his son's medical
\nexpenses had already reached some Rp 650,000.<\/p>\n
\"Such an amount of money was too much for me,\" he said, adding
\nthat he only earned Rp 15,000 a day as a parking attendant near
\nthe scene of crime.<\/p>\n
He finally realized he had no choice and accepted his friend's
\noffer to play a role in the midday robbery.<\/p>\n
Alex, who was dismissed earlier this year as a technician at a
\nprivate firm, told the court that he only played a minor part in
\nthe snatching of the woman's bag.<\/p>\n
\"Uwo and Acid first approached the victim, Shanty Dewi (38),
\nbefore snatching her bag. I was assigned to stand outside the
\nrestaurant to watch out for passersby,\" he said at the trial
\npresided over by Judge Chasiyani Tanjung.<\/p>\n
His two other accomplices, Ucok and Yanto, stood on alert at
\nthe restaurant's door to prevent the group from being chased
\nafter by other people.<\/p>\n
Successful in stealing the bag, the five then met in the
\nevening at the Atrium Senen shopping mall to share the proceeds.<\/p>\n
Alex said he was told the bag contained Rp 3.8 million in
\ncash, a Samsung mobile phone, a pair of spectacles and a Mount
\nBlanc pen.<\/p>\n
\"Ucok gave me Rp 400,000. That night I gave Rp 300,000 to my
\nwife and the remaining Rp 100,000 to my mother,\" the defendant,
\nwho lives with his family in the Kwitang subdistrict, said.<\/p>\n
His wife, Cholisah binti Sapri, 17, who attended the trial,
\nconfirmed Alex's remarks to the judges.<\/p>\n
\"At first, he told me that he got the money from his friend.
\nBut, later I knew that it was hot money after he was arrested by
\nthe police,\" Cholisah said.<\/p>\n
She said the police arrested her husband on July 26 at
\nCholisah's family's house in Parung Panjang, Depok.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Adi indicted the defendant for committing a
\nburglary in cooperation with other people, violating chapter 365
\nof the Criminal Code which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years
\nin jail.<\/p>\n
Judge Chasiyani adjourned the trial until next week to hear
\nthe prosecutor's demands. (asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/man-commits-crime-to-pay-for-sons-hospital-bills-1447893297",
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