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)