Craftsman arrested for alleged rape, murder

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta Police detectives on Tuesday brought a 21-year-old craftsman into custody for allegedly raping and killing a housewife living next-door to his small factory in Ciputat.

Chief of the precinct, Col. Nono Supriyono, said his officers are still investigating the case, since they found several inconsistencies in statements by the suspect to the investigators.

But the suspect, Abdul Rohman, told reporters that he had admitted to having committed the crime alone on Monday afternoon. The 28-year-old victim was alone, except for her three-old-son, at her home in the Pondok Hijau Lestari housing complex.

He said he really liked the victim from the first time he worked at the small furniture manufacturing company eight months ago.

"She was a beautiful woman," Abdul said.

According to officer Nono, the arrest of Abdul was made based on a tip-off from the victim's son, Nabila, who saw the suspect leaving the home.

Abdul was arrested at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at a place in Cireunde area, where he used to meet with his friends, the officer said.

According to the suspect, he knew that the victim was home alone with her son everyday. Her husband always returned home from his office at about 6 p.m. Abdul also admitted that he and the victim knew each other well.

Abdul recalled that he sometimes watched the victim through her window.

The suspect said that he entered the house at 2 p.m. on Monday and dragged the housewife to the bedroom and brutally raped her.

Preliminary police investigation disclosed that the victim had attempted to resist Abdul's assault but was then strangled to keep her still.

The craftsman did not explain whether or not he really wanted to kill the woman.

After raping and killing the woman, he hastily left the scene without knowing the victim's child saw him leaving the house.

The body of the woman was found at 6:30 p.m. by her husband. The victim was found in the bedroom, wearing nothing but a bra.

According to officer Nono, his men need more time to determine if others may have been involved in the crimes.

Separately, forensic expert, Zulhasmar Syamsu from the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, who conducted the post-mortem examination of the victim's body, said the housewife had been sexually abused and several bruises were found on her private parts.

A cut wound was also found on the left side of her abdomen, he added.

Zulhasmar concluded that her death was caused by strangulation.

He said that team members were still examining characteristics of sperm recovered from the victim's body. (06)