5 years demanded for rapist

Prosecutor Mawardi Muchtar has demanded that the East Jakarta District Court sentence a man identified only as Mar, 32, to five years imprisonment for rape.

Prosecutor Mawardi told the court Wednesday that Mar, a resident of Cakung Timur, was proven guilty of raping Mrs. Bar, a divorcee who lives near his house, on Jan. 18.

According to the prosecutor, the defendant, who was extremely drunk after drinking liquor at a street-side coffee shop in Cakung market on the night, leapt into the backyard of the victim's house after climbing a wall. He then entered the house through a back door which Mrs. Bar had not locked.

Threatening her with a knife, the defendant, who has a record of robbery, herded Mrs. Bar to a bed and then raped her.

Feeling exhausted, the defendant then asked Mrs. Bar to allow him to stay in her house until sunrise. Mrs. Bar used this time to flee and tell her sister, who lives nearby.

Police apprehended Mar at an intersection not long after he left the victim's house. They seized a knife and a tablet of Pil BK, a prescription drug, from him.

The trial was adjourned until July 20 to give the defendant time to submit his defense. (has)