Decaying body found at boarding house

JAKARTA (JP): A decomposing male body was found yesterday morning in a room at a boarding house on Jl. Mangga Besar IV, Taman Sari, in West Jakarta.

Local police identified the fully-clothed body as Denny Agus Setiawan, a 21-year-old university student.

The identification card found in the room said he was a resident of Dusun Pulosari, Rengasdengklok, Karawang in West Java.

Police spokesman Maj. Nyoman Suryasta, confirmed said that there were no signs of any injury and no drugs in the room. "We've sent the corpse to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for an autopsy," Nyoman told reporters.

Police forensic officers diagnosed that the decomposed body might have been dead for about four days. It was found by an air- conditioning serviceman at 9 a.m. yesterday.

The serviceman, Sukardi, aged 19, was asked by a housemaid, Ida, 23, to check a bad smell coming from the room in question.

Sukardi screamed loudly when he saw the body lying on a mattress on the floor.

People in the neighborhood flocked to the scene and reported the case to the Taman Sari police precinct.

Landlady Maria Agnes and other occupants in the boarding house have already been questioned.

"The investigation is still on going," said officer Nyoman.

The boarding house has 10 rooms available to both males and females. Four of the 10 rooms, including the one the body was found in, have been empty for about a month.

"We don't know who the guy was. We'd never met him before," said Ayung, one of the occupants. (bsr)