Beggar robbed, killed by vagrants

Beggar robbed, killed by vagrants

JAKARTA (JP): A beggar was robbed and killed by a group of six vagrants under the Jatinegara bridge in the Rawabunga subdistrict of East Jakarta yesterday.

The beggar, Alex Kayatu, alias Lisa Bonet, 38, was killed when the assailants forced the victim's head into the mud under the bridge, said East Jakarta police precinct chief Lt. Col. Gories Mere.

The suspects, who sometimes sleep under the bridge as well, took the victim's tape recorder and sold it at the nearby Lapangan Urip Soemahardjo market for Rp 30,000 (US$13), Mere said.

The dead body of the poor beggar was found by passers-by at about 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Five of the six suspects were arrested several hours later after police spoke with eyewitnesses and other vagrants living under the Jatinegara bridge.

"The remaining suspect, identified as Ivan, is still at large," said Mere.

The first suspect apprehended was 19-year-old Abdullah, a high school drop-out, who informed the police as to the whereabouts of his accomplices.

The police then arrested Yulianto, 16, Totok Kuswanto, 23, Turang Simandjuntak, 23 and Apriantana, 24.

During preliminary police questioning, the five said that the motive of the killing was to get his tape recorder, Mere said.

According to the suspects, the beggar was asleep when the group came by and forced him face down into the mud, Mere said.

Soon after the tape recorder was sold, the group had a meal at a small canteen and shared the change, Mere said. (bsr)