Housemaid's two sons arrested for murder

Housemaid's two sons arrested for murder

JAKARTA (JP): The East Jakarta police have arrested two sons of a housemaid for their alleged role in Sunday's killing of their mother's employer.

The suspects have admitted to killing Oos Rosidin, 41, in revenge for the victim's attitude toward their 65-year-old mother, who had worked for him for about three years, East Jakarta Police Precinct chief, Lt. Col. Gories Mere, said yesterday.

The victim was very stingy and notorious for his sharp tongue, Mere quoted the suspects as saying.

The killing allegedly took place at the victim's house in the Pondok Bambu Permai housing complex at about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, after the victim refused to lend the two suspects Rp 3 million (US$1,318).

The victim, an accountant at the Union Oil Company, was found dead on Monday morning with six stab wounds to his torso, three to his left hand, one to his head and four to his neck. The stab wounds to Oos' neck were so deep that his head was almost severed from his body, Mere said.

Police have assumed that the suspects covered the corpse of Oos', a bachelor, with carpet and laid it on his bed in the bedroom.

The body was found by a colleague of the victim's, Suwarno, who came to the scene after being called by Oos' housemaid Hasanah, also known as Ocoh.

The suspects, identified as Dudung Dumyati, 40, and his brother Dayat Hidayat, 22, were arrested on Wednesday morning at their West Java homes in Bogor and Bandung respectively.

Witness

Ocoh is the key witness in the case, police said.

They added that the housemaid might later be indicted for giving false information to police officers and trying to protect crime suspects.

Since the body was discovered, police heard several conflicting statements from the housemaid, Mere said.

At least two relatives of the victim were earlier interrogated by police on the basis of the false information provided by Ocoh, police said.

Ocoh only revealed her sons' alleged role in the killing after a series of long interrogation sessions on Tuesday evening.

Following the arrest of the two suspects, police seized a small pocket knife believed to have been used by the suspects to kill the victim. Blood-stained trousers were also confiscated from the suspects as evidence.

Dudung reportedly told the investigators that his mother came to his house in Bogor late last month and told him that her employer was stingy, sharp-tongued and short-tempered.

However, the woman refused to quit, as suggested by her son.

Dayat, who lived in Bandung, was informed about his mother's problem when he came to Bogor to try to borrow Rp 50,000 from his brother last Saturday.

As Dudung also had no money, they decided to see their mother in Jakarta. According to police investigators, it was at that time that they planned the murder.

The brothers arrived at Oos' house at about 9:30 p.m. carrying knives, police allege.

The two suspects reportedly told police that Oos got angry and landed a punch on Dayat's face after the brothers had asked Oos to lend them some money.

Dudung then stabbed Oos several times, continuing after the victim had fallen to the ground, police said.

After covering the victim's body with a carpet and taking valuable items from the corpse, the brothers allegedly gave their mother Rp 40,000 and left the scene. (bsr)