Alleged rapists killed, burned

TANGERANG (JP): Two alleged kidnappers and rapists of a young girl were brutally assaulted and burned to death by angry locals at Keramat Village Hall in the Pakuhaji district in Tangerang on Wednesday.

The two fatalities, identified as Agung, 30 and Ali Sadikin, 30, and another man called Nasan were reported to have abducted and raped a local 19-year-old girl.

The girl left home on Nov. 4 with the three men, who were her neighbors, and was said to be held in a house for about 10 days.

With no clear reason, the alleged abductors returned the girl home on Saturday at which point the victim told her parents that she had been sexually assaulted.

Her parents then reported the case to the Pakuhaji police, who later searched for the suspects.

Police managed to nab Nasan at his house on Monday.

Residents, however, encountered the other two men walking toward the victim's house to settle the matter on Wednesday at noon.

Angry crowds quickly stopped the two and dragged them to the nearby village meeting hall. Brutally attacked with blunt and sharp objects, Agung died instantly, while crowds poured gasoline on Ali and burned him alive.

He died in Tangerang hospital later in the day.

"We deeply regret the incident. People must not take the law into their own hands," Pakuhaji police chief First Lt. Bachrudin commented sadly. (41/edt)