Four new police recruits die in marathon run

La Remmy, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Four new recruits to the Central Sulawesi Police's paramilitary Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit died on a long-distance run held as part of an initiation exercise on Tuesday.

A team from the local police was still investigating the cause of the deaths, but a witness said the four had probably died as a result of beatings by their seniors.

Palu General Hospital reported that the four, all aged between 20 and 24 -- Second Pvt. Yohanis Tulas, Second Pvt. Denny Karya Yanis, Second Pvt. Sutaji Takasihaeng and Second Pvt. Sahilu -- died soon after undertaking a 13-kilometer march from Central Sulawesi Police Headquarters to the Brimob base on Jl. Sam Ratulangi in Palu, the Central Sulawesi capital city.

They had just returned from boot camp in Watukosek, East Java.

A source from the hospital said that the mouths of the dead officers were covered with blood and saliva.

Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha confirmed the death of the new recruits. He said that the four Brimob personnel were part of group of 164 new recruits who were running a customary 13-kilometer marathon prior to their official appointment as qualified police officers.

"I was informed that 16 of them collapsed before reaching the finishing line. They were rushed to the hospital, but there was not much the doctor could do for these four," he told reporters here.

He said that police had yet to determine the cause of the four new officers' deaths.

"However, we have set up a special team to embark on an investigation into this case," he said, adding that a team from National Police Headquarters was due to arrive to perform an autopsy on the dead men.

Taufik said that the dead officers would be buried in their hometowns after the autopsies were over.

The fatalities have exited the interest of the public in Palu. However, the local police have remained tight-lipped over the case.

A number of reporters who visited the hospital were denied access to the bodies by the police.

Saria, a relative of Sutaji, told reporters that she was not given enough information to explain why blood had been flowing from Sutaji's mouth.

Locals speculate that the Brimob recruits were subjected to beatings by their seniors. "A 13-kilometer march would not kill them. They must have been beaten very badly if blood was coming out of their mouths," said a street vendor on Jl. Sam Ratulangi, who witnessed the arrival of the recruits at the finishing line.

A source said that the number of new recruits was in fact 166, but two were excluded from the march. One was grounded for attacking a fellow recruit and another was undergoing medical treatment following a traffic accident.