Barefaced chicanery

Barefaced chicanery

From Bisnis Indonesia

My mother-in-law (who is a university lecturer and also a hajjah) was recently deceived by a group of women who called themselves "wise women" from an Islamic Boarding School in Central Java. At about 1 p.m., she was met by the group at Blok M Plaza in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. One of the group began preaching to my mother-in-law and stressed the need for purifying all belongings.

Although my mother-in-law did not fully believe the preacher, she did not have enough vision to reject the women's demand, and obeyed her instructions. One of the gang members accompanied my mother-in-law to her home in Mampang and took her valuables. The preacher also asked for her savings account number, apparently because the money she kept at home was too little.

The woman and my mother-in-law then went to BNI'46 in Blok M where they again met the other three women. She withdrew the money from the bank and gave it and the valuables to the women. The gang asked my mother-in-law to again return home and get more valuables. They gave my mother-in-law a black plastic bag in return, telling her that it could only be opened at magrib prayer time. The four women then left.

A couple of minutes later my mother-in-law regained consciousness and realized she had been deceived and robbed. In the plastic bag she found pieces of white paper and white and yellow coins. Over 10 million rupiah was stolen.

The South Jakarta police told her these robberies happen all the time.

N. HERBAWATI

Jakarta