Indonesian arrested for murder in Osaka

Indonesian arrested for murder in Osaka

JAKARTA (JP): A 23-year-old Indonesian man has been arrested
in Osaka, Japan for killing and robbing a local woman, who he
tutored in Bahasa Indonesia, an Indonesian diplomat said
yesterday.

Herman Sonjaya, who graduated from a Japanese private
university last year, was apprehended Saturday after police found
strong evidence implicating him in the slaying and robbing of
Miyuki Ikenaga, consul Ibnu Hadi at the Indonesian consulate
general office in Osaka told The Jakarta Post via telephone.

Quoting a police report submitted to the Indonesian consulate,
Ibnu said Ikenaga was found dead in her Higashi Osaka apartment
in the Japanese prefecture of southern Osaka on May 31.

"Herman was said to have strangled the Japanese woman and took
her ATM (automatic teller machine) card, which he used to
withdraw 80,000 (Rp 6.4 million)," he said.

Police found the victim's diary and some camera film at the
ATM booth, Ibnu said.

In the diary, Ikenaga had written that Herman was to meet her
for a private Bahasa Indonesia lesson at her apartment on the day
she was apparently killed, he explained.

"The ATM's security camera recorded Herman at the booth," Ibnu
said.

Herman has admitted to the charges during police questioning,
he quoted the local police report as saying.

"But I plan to meet with local police and with Herman to
listen to his version and his motive tomorrow (today)," said
Ibnu.

"He might have another motive besides money, such as hate or
revenge," he said.

Antara yesterday quoted an article of Yomiuri daily in its
Sunday's edition as saying that Herman told investigators that he
owed her 100,000.

The newspaper reported that Herman allegedly strangled his
victim with a wire.

It said the suspect entered the country under a student visa
in October 1995, but that his application for visa renewal was
rejected last February.

Herman has been in Japan as an illegal alien since then, the
daily said.

Ibnu said Herman's visa renewal application was turned down
because he had already graduated.

"But I don't have enough information on his status. We haven't
even checked our registration book here to find out whether or
not he had reported his presence to our office," Ibnu said.

An Indonesian police official said yesterday that he had not
been informed of Herman's arrest by Japanese police.

"We really have no idea about the news," Brig. Gen. Wayan
Arjana, secretary of Interpol Indonesia, told the Post.

Based on the consulate general's data, almost half of the
1,500 Indonesians in Osaka are students, he said.

According to Yomiuri, at least three Indonesians are being
detained by Japanese immigration authorities and are awaiting
repatriation.

The Japanese government has repatriated about 20 Indonesians
for overstaying in the country since last year. (bsr)