Five die in revenge attack in Jepara

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)