Five die in revenge attack in Jepara

JAKARTA (JP): At least five men were killed in Bandungharjo village in a failed revenge attack by residents from a neighboring village in Keling district, Jepara regency, Central Java.

Jepara Police chief Lt. Col. Monang Manullang told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that the cause of the clash between Bandungharjo residents and a group of men from Tulakan and Puncel villages begun in an incident two days earlier, in which a man from Bandungharjo assaulted a Tulakan woman during a dangdut music show at Tulakan.

According to Manullang, the woman was the wife of the organizer of the show, Karmadi.

"The midnight music show took place near his house," the officer explained.

Local newspaper Suara Merdeka reported on Friday that the attacker of his wife was a youth from Bandungharjo named Suharno. He apparently hit the woman when she refused to dance with him.

The woman told her husband, Karmadi, who immediately stopped the show and, with a group of 20 men, searched the area for the young man, officer Manullang said.

Karmadi then drove the group to Bandungharjo looking for Suharno, who had fled the site.

At about 1 a.m., Karmadi's group arrived at the village, but found only a coffee shop still open.

The attacked five men at the shop, who apparently knew nothing of the previous incident, the officer said.

After the five men and the shop owner managed to flee, Karmadi and his friends vandalized the coffee shop and three motorcycles parked nearby.

On Thursday morning, about 25 Bandungharjo residents went to Tulakan and damaged Karmadi's house in retaliation, forcing the owner and his family to run for safety, Manullang said.

The local security authorities called on both parties to ease tensions, but Karmadi wanted revenge the following day.

Recruiting some 25 people from Tulakan and surrounding villages on Friday afternoon, Karmadi led the men, armed with machetes, to the neighboring village of Bandungharjo. They burned down one house and damaged two others.

Dozens of local residents, observing the destruction, took up machetes and spears and quickly encircled the group.

Outnumbered, Karmadi and his men ran to a nearby rubber plantation. The Bandungharjo villagers chased the group and stabbed to death five people, including Karmadi.

"The wife of Karmadi has not been found," officer Manullang said.

He said the police are still investigating the case. (asa)