Body parts believed to be from same man found in three locations

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of Grogol subdistrict in West Jakarta found a right leg on Monday, believed to have come from the same male body whose right hand, left leg and the lower abdomen were found in the water at the Manggarai floodgate in South Jakarta a day earlier.

Hendra Ismail, a local, said the right leg was discovered at 3.30 p.m. floating in the Cideng river by one of the children, Radha, who alerted local residents.

"We rushed to the river where Radha was trying to bring the object closer to the river's edge with a long bamboo stick," Hendra told reporters at the scene.

"Led by Heri, a Hansip (civilian guard) personnel, some children retrieved the leg by using a blue raffia rope," said the 25 year old.

Hundreds of locals came to see the leg on the bank of the river, which flows to Muara Karang beach off North Jakarta bay. The leg was admitted to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) later in the evening.

Separately, ship crew members of Muara Angke fishing dock in North Jakarta found the upper portion of an abdomen to the neck, floating in the waters on Sunday, hours after the discovery in Manggarai.

Mun'im Idris, a forensic expert at RSCM, said after examining the body parts that were found on Sunday he found bruises on the right hand and the left leg, probably from a blunt object, and part of the anus was torn.

"The inside organs were complete, but the epidermis has vanished because the parts were in the water for two or three days, making it difficult for us to identify the body," he said.

Mun'im said the body has clear complexion, neat fingers, is circumcised and is likely of Malay origin. He estimated the man to be not more than 30 years old and 160 centimeters in height.

He said there was a big question whether the body parts were from only one person as the parts of the body might have floated from the Ciliwung river to the Cideng river.

However, the police have yet to conclude that the parts, found in three separate places, belonged to the same person.

Acting City Police spokesman Sr. Supt. Harry Montolalu said on Monday that the priority was to discover the identity of the victim before seeking the motive for the murder.

"The police are waiting for people who are missing relatives or family members to come to RSCM.

"Then, we'll ask them if they recognize the body parts as those of their missing family member," said Harry, who's also chief of the Jakarta Police detectives. (asa/07)