Jealous man mobbed to death

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A man was mobbed to death by residents after he set fire to his ex-wife's house in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Police identified the dead man as 48-year-old MB Abdul Rozak, a resident of Ciganjur, Jagakarsa, South Jakarta.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said Rozak went to visit his former wife, Endang, at around 10:30 p.m.

Rozak became enraged upon learning that Endang planned to remarry, even though he had remarried and had one child from his second marriage.

"According to witnesses, Rozak entered the house through the back door," Anton said.

Rozak, armed with a machete and firecrackers, reportedly attacked Endang and three other people who were sleeping inside the house.

"The relationship between the three and Endang is not yet known as the four are still being treated at Pasar Rebo Hospital for wounds they suffered and cannot be questioned," Anton said.

After beating the four people, Rozak went outside and set fire to the front of the house. When he attempted to burn other parts of the house, neighbors tried to stop him and calm him down.

"But Rozak lost control and began shouting and pointing his machete at the neighbors who had arrived at the house," the police quoted witnesses as saying.

Anton said he believed someone must have provoked the incident that led to the man's death.

"Or maybe the neighbors who at first wanted to calm him down lost control because the victim resisted and was also armed," the officer speculated.