Bank Niaga secretary committed suicide: Police

Bank Niaga secretary committed suicide: Police

JAKARTA (JP): Police have concluded that a 32-year-old
secretary of the privately-owned Bank Niaga who was found dead on
April 30 had committed suicide.

"Based on all evidence available and information from
witnesses, we have concluded that she committed suicide," South
Jakarta police precinct chief Lt. Col. Adang Rismanto told The
Jakarta Post and Kompas here yesterday.

Earlier, Adang said, a number of her relatives had asked the
police to investigate her death after they found several bruises
on her body.

Also, First Lieutenant Eddy Tambunan, head of the Hard-Crime
Investigation unit of the police precinct, said that the police
hadn't determined why the woman might want to kill herself.

Ida Rezeki was found dead by her husband, Hery, also 32, at
around 1:00 p.m. on April 30 at their house at the PN Timah
housing complex in Cilandak.

When police arrived on the scene, they found Ida hanging on a
plastic rope in the kitchen of the couple's house.

Ida was a secretary at the Information System Group of the
Bank Niaga headquarters and Hery is on the staff of a building
contractor. The couple rented the house at Rp 250,000 (US$116)
per month. Ida and Hery, who married over two years ago, have no
children.

During questioning, Hery said that he arrived home from work
at about 12:30 a.m. on the fateful day, expecting to find his
wife who did not have to work that day.

"He said he found nothing unusual at their house at that time
except for the fact that he was unable to open the door with the
spare key he had," said Eddy.

Hery later decided to ask for another spare key from his
parents-in-law, who live at the DPR housing complex located a few
kilometers from the house. However, he still couldn't open the
door. Later, he saw from the front window that there was a key
inserted into the inside lock.

Hery then broke the window and turned the key to open the door
from outside.

He called his wife several times but there were no answer. He
later found Ida hanging on a rope in the kitchen.

He told the police that no valuable items kept in the house
were lost.

"Moreover, there were no footprints found on the lawn nor did
neighbors note any unusual activity the entire day," Eddy quoted
Hery as telling him.

The bruises found on Ida's body were believed to have been
caused by scratches of her body against the wall when she failed
to tighten the rope on a wooden block at the ceiling, Eddy said.

"Based on information we have received so far, the couple had
a harmonious marriage," he said.

Every Saturday, Ida usually spent her time washing clothes.

According to her superior, Ninik Amiruddin, head of the
personnel department of Bank Niaga, Ida had a good personal
record.

"I would say, she did her job better than most staff here and
it seemed to me she was always happy," Ninik said on Thursday.

"Therefore, we strongly believe that her death has nothing to
do with the company," he was quick to add.

Police will soon question a number of her colleagues, who
might know anything that might be useful in efforts to unveil the
motives behind the death.

Actually, some of them have already been asked to come to the
police station but none have turned up so far, Eddy said. (bsr)