Lecturer killed at her house

Lecturer killed at her house

JAKARTA (JP): A 35-year-old lecturer at the polytechnic school
of the University of Indonesia was found dead at her residence in
the Bintara Jaya housing complex in Bekasi yesterday, police
said.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the victim,
identified as Netty Sitanggang, had allegedly been murdered by
her male servant, identified as Yamin.

"Yamin is a suspect in murder because he has not been seen
since Netty was last seen in the house," he said, adding that
blood stains on Yamin's bedroom wall strengthened police
suspicions.

Aritonang said Yamin, a resident of Jepara, Central Java, who
was recruited by Netty's family from a maid agency in Semarang,
Central Java, was still at large.

"We do not know what the suspect's motive for killing the
victim was," he said.

Bekasi police were still examining the scene of the crime,
collecting evidence and checking nothing had been missed in the
initial search of the house, he added.

Netty is believed to have died at least two days before her
body was discovered.

"Her body was found near the stairs in her house by a relative
and it had already begun to decompose," the spokesman said.

The decomposed body was sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Bambang H.P., a forensic expert at the hospital, told
reporters: "Netty's skull was fractured. It had been beaten by
blunt objects."

Netty was married to P. Siagian, an engineer, and had three
children. Siagian works at a hydrothermal power plant in Jepara,
Central Java.

After teaching at the University of Indonesia in Depok, Netty
used to return to Semarang, where her husband and her children
live, Ian Sitanggang, the victim's brother said.

Ian said that Siagian called him from Semarang on Wednesday
asking about his wife, who had failed to arrive from Jakarta.

"She should have returned to Semarang on Monday night," Ian,
an anesthetist, said.

He went to Netty's residence in Bekasi on his way to work in
Cilegon, West Java, on Wednesday.

"When I arrived there, I found her home was locked from the
outside," he said, adding that he then went to see the head of
the neighborhood to ask his permission to break into the house.

"We found Netty's body lying near the stairs." Ian said.

"I don't know if Yamin killed Netty. Police are still
investigating the case," he said. (09/cst)