Employers of killed maid detained

JAKARTA (JP): The Tangerang police have arrested a couple for allegedly torturing their 23-year-old maid to death at their house in Curug, some 35 kilometers west of here.

"The two suspects are being detained at our office until their dossiers are completed," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Djoko Satrio told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

According to Djoko, Mangara Sinaga, 30, and his wife, Fransiska, 28, residents of the Binong village, have admitted to having badly battered their maid, Ropingah.

They believed the victim had stolen many of their belongings in their house in the Binong Permai housing complex.

"The poor servant was then allegedly beaten by the couple for weeks before she was found dead on Monday," Djoko said.

The woman's death was first reported by Sinaga to the local neighborhood chief, Heri Sucahyo, on Monday evening.

Heri then went to the house with other residents and found the deceased on the floor with wounds from beatings and cigarette burns on almost every part of her body.

"Sinaga told me his servant died in the morning while he and his wife were at work," Heri said.

Due to some irregularities found at the scene, Heri asked Sinaga to report the case to another senior neighborhood chief.

Soon after the couple and their 1-year-old child left their house, Heri reported the case at the nearby police station.

Blood spots

At the scene, police found several dried blood spots on the wall and some on a stick inside the house.

A local forensic scientist said the maid had died a day before.

A postmortem revealed her stomach was empty.

"We strongly believe the deceased had not eaten for days," Djoko said.

Yesterday reports cited neighbors who said they sometimes saw Ropingah poking around trash, apparently looking for food.

The officer said all material evidence needed for the completion of the dossiers was in police hands.

The police are still questioning some eyewitnesses, including another maid at the house identified only as Am.

As of yesterday evening, Ropingah's body was at the Tangerang general hospital.

"We've informed Ropingah's family in Purwokerto in Central Java of her death but none of her relatives have come to take the body," Djoko said.

During police questioning, Sinaga said he was a Pos Kota daily reporter and his wife a private businesswoman.

When asked for confirmation, a senior reporter of the daily said the suspect had never been hired as a journalist there.

"He only attended a training course here for few months in 1990," said the source, who refused to be named.

According to officer Djoko, if found guilty the couple could face a maximum prison sentence of seven years. (bsr)