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)