Diplomat's house burglarized

Diplomat's house burglarized

JAKARTA (JP): Thieves are believed to have collaborated with a
housemaid who ran away with electronic goods, expensive clothing
and household appliances worth Rp 18 million from a diplomat's
house, police said Wednesday.

Leonardo Dos Reis, who will assume his new post as political
bureau chief at Indonesia's embassy in Brazil next month, and his
wife, Denok Darwanti, were on the way to the railway station for
a planned trip to Yogyakarta on May 7 when the thieves struck.

The maid, Darmini, 19, was home alone when thieves cleaned out
the house in the posh Bukit Raflesia, Cibubur, area of East
Jakarta. The maid was hired from an agent three days earlier.

Police detective Sergeant Major Mathias of the Cimanggis
police precinct said Wednesday the authorities were still in the
dark about the maid's whereabouts.

"We know the maid's agent and some of the maid's buddies but
we cannot arrest without hard evidence," he told The Jakarta
Post. "The agent is illegal and did not know her well enough
because she was picked up in the street."

Denok said that at the time of the burglary, neighbors saw
several people come to her house by taxi at about 2 p.m. The
passengers were seen loading things into the car parked in her
garage.

"On that unlucky day, my husband and I returned home because
the train to Yogyakarta was canceled only to find my house
properly locked. We were shocked on finding it almost empty," she
said.

She said she was dismayed by the police's inability to solve
the case although they have the name of the maid's agent and
friends. (pan)