Deputy police chief commits suicide

Deputy police chief commits suicide

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

A middle-ranking police officer in the West Irian Jaya town of
South Sorong apparently killed himself, just hours before he was
to officially surrender his post to another officer.

A post-mortem report concluded that Comr. Yulius Pakiding died
of suspected insecticide poisoning on Saturday. He is the fourth
police officer in the country thought to have committed suicide
in the past 10 months.

Local journalists speculated that Yulius' death was likely
connected to his unsettled business with the provincial police
headquarters concerning the construction of a housing complex for
police officers in the newly established town of Aimas near
Sorong.

South Sorong Police chief Comr. Wempy Batlayery refused to
comment on the speculation. But he confirmed on Monday that his
deputy had been involved in the construction project, which is
valued at Rp 3 billion (US$300,000).

"He complained to me quite often that he had not received
payment, although he had provided his land for the project. He
was involved in the project by his own initiative," Wempy said.

Wempy added that Yulius had asked him to convey his complaints
to the provincial police chief, while adding that Yulius had
looked "unhealthy" in the days before he died.

"When I told him to see a doctor, he said he would only
recuperate after he received his payment," Wempy said. He claimed
to know nothing about how much his deputy would earn from the
project.

Yulius had been entrusted to handle several construction
projects for police office buildings in the newly established
towns near Sorong, including the Mobile Brigade office in Suprao,
the police headquarters in Sorong municipality and the Raja Ampat
police headquarters, according to Wempy.

The burial of Yulius' had been put on hold pending his
family's request for an autopsy. Yulius had not been living with
his wife and their three children, who remained in Sorong, since
his assignment to South Sorong seven months ago.

Yulius was found dead by Wempy's adjutant, whom the police
chief ordered to pick up his deputy for a ceremony to mark the
transfer of duty at the South Sorong police headquarters.

Police discovered a nearly empty can of insecticide and a pair
of scissors near his body. A leather belt was also wrapped around
his neck.

The ceremony was delayed indefinitely due to the incident. The
National Police headquarters has appointed Comr. Bernard B. Muda
to replace Yulius.

Wempy said the police had sealed off Yulius' house to
facilitate a police investigation into the case.

In January, chief of detectives in Kampar regency, Riau, First
Insp. Jhontua D. Hutagalung, killed himself as well. Family
problems were cited as the motive of that suicide.

April saw two more officers commit suicide. On April 18,
Second Brig. Yohanes Widiyanto died after he shot himself in the
head inside St. Antonius Catholic church in Yogyakarta after a
morning service.

Nine days later, former chief of the traffic section at the
Jombang police department First. Insp. Sugeng Triyono shot
himself after shooting his superior, Adj. Comr. Ibrahim Gani.
Ibrahim survived after surgery to remove bullets from his chest
and hip, but doctors could not save Triyono's life. The incident
came after Triyono was moved from his position to a "less
lucrative" post.