Family says horror bus driver a 'good guy'
Family says horror bus driver a 'good guy'
By Ahyani
BANDUNG (JP): Looking into Salam's face is like looking into a pool of sorrow and confusion. All of a sudden he and his family have come under public scrutiny because his son-in-law, Agus Arifin, caused the deaths of 31 people.
Many people, even complete strangers, have come to his simple abode since the tragic accident last Saturday.
Agus was the driver of the Kramatdjati bus which smashed into a Toyota jeep, leading 31 people to horrific deaths.
"Agus cares a lot about his wife and daughter," Salam told reporters.
Agus married Rusmini, in 1992, and has an eight-month-old daughter.
Salam, a becak (three-wheel pedicab) driver, said that Agus showers his family with love and affection every time he has a chance to come home.
"Usually, he comes home once every three days, gives his wife some money and collects some clean clothes before going back to work," he said.
Agus does not have a fixed salary. When he returns home, he could bring with him between Rp 75,000 and Rp 100,000 (US$33 to $44).
"The money he earns depends on the number of passengers he carries. I don't know exactly how much he earns," Salam said.
Agus has worked for the Kramatdjati bus company for two months. He previously worked for three bus companies, Sahabat, JS and Dwi Karya, which served the Bandung-Cirebon route. Agus was once employed as a chauffeur.
When he was with the Dwi Karya company, he was named as the company's best driver.
Salam said Agus does not talk much.
"He is quiet and talks only when necessary. I don't know what he is like outside the home, but when he is at home, he never takes liquor or pills like the newspapers reported," he said.
As our conversation continued, Salam said that his daughter is Agus' second wife.
"His first wife, who was from Jatiwangi, Cirebon, died. Agus has a child from his first marriage, who is now living with his grandparents in Jatiwangi," Salam said.
He added that as Agus covers the Bandung-Cirebon route, he often stops by to see his son.
Salam remembered a time when Agus could not return home as there were many passengers wanting transport.
"He told a bus conductor to bring the money home," he said.
At that time the family was in bad need of money and his wife had to pawn their daughter's jewelry, which the family bought as an investment. With the money, his wife retrieve the jewelry from the pawnbroker.
Salam has seven children. Rusmini is the sixth. Some of Salam's children work in Kalimantan, West Timor and Cirebon.
One of Salam's children, Dede Supriyadi, is a construction worker in Bandung. He lives with his parents, Agus and Rusmini and their daughter in a small stuffy house in an alley of Jl. Embong.
Rusmini, 26, and Intan, her daughter, have been in Bogor since Wednesday.
"She said she had to go there for police' questioning and to see Agus, who is in police detention," he said, showing the warrant for Agus' arrest.
The warrant was signed by Major Wahyu Suhendra of the Bogor police.
Salam said Agus' detention is in God's hands.
There is one thing that confuses him: many people are offering him legal aid.
"There is one person who said he'd been appointed by the police to defend Agus. I know nothing about law and I have no money to hire any lawyer," he said, showing a number of name cards left by lawyers who came to his house.
Salam expressed regret that Kramatdjati did not send an employee to his house to tell him about the accident.
"I learned about it from other people, the TV and journalists who came here," he said before showing reporters the door, as he had to leave for work with his becak.
The family's life will probably never be the same. Salam, his daughter and granddaughter may have to bear the brunt of so many people's fury, people whose loved ones either perished or are traumatized by their ordeal. The family will carry the burden of being related to a man who caused the terrible deaths of so many people.