Foul play in man's suicide

JAKARTA (JP): A former public minivan driver was found dead at his home on Tuesday, hanging from a rope attached to a door vent.

Achmad Sofyan, 51, was found by his younger brother M. Hafizullah at the house on Jl. Olah Raga, in the Cililitan district, East Jakarta.

A preliminary police report pointed to suicide as the cause of death but an official at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, who conducted the autopsy, said yesterday that the victim had been murdered.

A forensic doctor, Zulharmas Syamsu, said: "The scars on the neck were flat. This means that he didn't commit suicide."

Achmad was dead when someone suspended him from the rope, he said.

The autopsy report said that Achmad's tongue had been severed and there were indications of very strong force being applied from behind.

Internal bleeding and suffocation were cited as the cause of death, which occurred about four hours before he was found.

The finding has prevented relatives from claiming the body because the hospital needs to conduct further examinations. (04)