Anger spurs arson, beating incident

JAKARTA (JP): Two shocking acts of violence occurred on Wednesday as a result of uncontrolled anger and frustration, city police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said on Thursday.

A 21-year-old construction worker was badly beaten by two officers from the Jakarta Military Command in Tambun, Bekasi, while a man nearly died in his home in Cawang, East Jakarta, when his 19-year-old son set the house on fire.

The construction worker, identified as Tamin, was badly beaten on Wednesday night by second class Sgt. Maja and Pvt. Sumarni. He is now resting in his home in the Srijaya subdistrict of Tambun.

Zainuri said Maja and Sumarni approached Tamin at the latter's residence and demanded Tamin hand over a motorcycle he had recently purchased from a friend, identified as Midi.

"Tamin asked the two officers to show him the official warrant to search his home. The officers became angry and they got into a verbal fight.

"The two officers then jumped on Tamin and began to punch him. Tamin's face is swollen as a result. The Yamaha Crypton motorcycle and the two officers are now at Bekasi Police Headquarters," Zainuri said.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Hermansyah burned down his house on early Wednesday morning while his father Husin, 53, was inside.

"The boy said he was frustrated because his father did nothing but scream at him. So he just set his home on fire at about 1:30 a.m. and ran off," Zainuri said.

"Firefighters arrived immediately at the scene and rescued (the boy's) father. The house was totally burned by 2:30 a.m. I urge all city residents to always act with a cool head," Zainuri said. (ylt)