Boy witnesses mother's murder

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A man almost got away with murdering his wife, except his son witnessed the brutal scene and told neighbors the horrifying details of what he saw.

The family tragedy played out in a small house in Kampong Rawajati, Kosambi district, Tangerang regency, where Soleh, 40, lived with his wife, Tuminah, 35, and their nine-year-old son.

Soleh, who works as a porter at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, admitted to police on Saturday that he killed his wife, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.

Tuminah was found dead on the bathroom floor on Friday morning by a neighbor, Abdurrohman, who is a local religious leader.

Soleh initially told police that Tuminah, who had been ill with diarrhea, woke up at about 1 a.m. and asked him to help give her a bath, which she said would help her fall back to sleep.

Soleh claimed that Tuminah fell while taking a bath and hit her head on the wall.

"Thirty minutes later, Tuminah complained of a pain in her stomach, which worried me so I called Abdurrohman to come and help look after her," he told police at the scene.

Abdurrohman arrived at the house and found Tuminah dead on the floor.

"I swear to God that I never hit my wife. She must have died because she was sick," Soleh told the police.

He did not know that his nine-year-old son woke up at the same time on Friday morning to go to the bathroom.

"I saw my father beat my mother with the water dipper while cursing at her. I went straight back to my bed," he told neighbors who came to the house on Saturday morning to pay their condolences.

Neighbors notified the Teluk Naga Police, who arrested Soleh and ordered an autopsy be performed on Tuminah at Tangerang General Hospital.

Police said there was a bruise on Tuminah's head consistent with being struck by a blunt object and signs of strangulation around her neck.

"I killed her because she always asked for money and I do not have any," Soleh reportedly told police on Saturday.