Incarcerated female job seeker dies in hospital

Incarcerated female job seeker dies in hospital

JAKARTA (JP): A woman died of a bad illness in hospital Friday
after being incarcerated for about three months in a house on Jl.
Taman AA in Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict, West Jakarta, police
said yesterday.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the woman,
identified only as DN, 22, died in Permata Hijau Hospital, West
Jakarta, two days after the police raided the house which was
used to incarcerate female job seekers.

"We're waiting for a postmortem report on the victim. We want
to be sure whether DN died because of diseases she contracted
during the three-month incarceration or other reasons," Aritonang
said.

DN, who hailed from Indramayu, West Java, was one of 400 women
freed by police on Wednesday after being locked up by Jimmy
Chandra, 46, who ran an allegedly illegal employment agency in
the Sukabumi Selatan subdistrict.

Jimmy is now being detained by the police for allegedly
incarcerating 927 women he promised employment overseas after
each of them paid him up to Rp 1 million ($125) over the last six
months.

Four of Jimmy's accomplices were also detained for further
investigation.

DN was found dying by the officers who raided the house. Her
face was white and she was in a very weak condition, Aritonang
said.

"Police immediately informed a nearby hospital about her
condition. She was unconscious by the time the medics took her
from the house for medical treatment," he said.

The raid on the house was launched after the police received
reports from DN's family, who claimed she had been missing for
about four months.

"DN's family only heard rumors that their daughter had
probably been sent to Saudi Arabia. But they got suspicious as
they had not received any news about her for quite some time,"
Aritonang said.

Jimmy has admitted to having used the name of another
employment company, PT Wardilesar Jaya Corporation (PT WJC), to
cover up his activities.

The owner of PT WJC, Said Salim, is currently under
investigation but "so far the police have not found any
indication that Said collaborated with the suspect," Aritonang
added.

The female job seekers, recruited from across Java, were
promised jobs in Middle East and Asian countries, such as Abu
Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

They said they had been put up in the 500-square-meter house
for between three and four months without knowing when they would
be sent abroad.

The women were locked inside the house and not allowed to go
out for any reason. They reported their daily meals consisted of
rice, salted fish and cooked cassava leaves.

"The police have substantial evidence that Jimmy has allegedly
run an illegal employment agency. We have enough witnesses to
confirm his action, including the workers who suffered from the
incarceration," Aritonang said.

The owners of the real PT WJC filed a protest against the
police on Saturday over their allegations that Jimmy was running
an illegal business because they said such allegations tarnished
the name of PT WJC.

Heru Pratikno, the firm's legal representative, told reporters
Saturday that many parents had canceled their children's
applications with the agency because they were traumatized by the
Jimmy Chandra case.

"The real PT WJC also runs an employment agency business. We
are a legal company listed with the Ministry of Manpower.

"This case is a big disgrace for our company and causes us to
suffer enormous losses. Because of Jimmy's case, our company has
temporarily been suspended," Heru said.

Aritonang said the police would continue investigating the
case. "There are probably more suspects in this case."

If proven guilty, Jimmy could be charged under Article 333 of
the Criminal Code for restricting a person's freedom so much that
it leads to the person's death. It carries a maximum penalty of
12 years imprisonment. (edt)