Flower trader stabbed by mistake

JAKARTA (JP): A 25-year-old flower trader in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, was stabbed to death on Thursday afternoon by a youth, who mistook the victim for a teenager who had been ridiculing him and his gang.

The victim, identified as Acip Suwarma, was stabbed from behind in his left thigh and hand and bled to death.

According to his friend, Dudung Sanwani, Acip had nothing to do with the dispute between the eight gang members and the teenage plastic bag trader they were chasing when the stabbing occurred.

Dudung quoted witnesses as saying the plastic bag vendor had ridiculed the gang members about their town of origin.

"They apparently could not accept this treatment. They chased the boy and then suddenly stabbed Acip without any apparent reason," he said.

Dudung, who lived together with Acip and the other local traders in a building on nearby Jl. Kramat, said the victim was to marry his girlfriend, Her, 17, after the Idul Fitri holiday.

"His girlfriend fainted when we told her what happened to Acip," Dudung said.

He said that Acip would be buried in his hometown, the Kelangenan area in Cirebon, West Java.

His body was sent to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for postmortem examination. Kebayoran Lama police had not apprehended the youth suspected of the murder. (ivy)