Lynch mob murder Tangerang man

JAKARTA (JP): A sand quarrying dispute allegedly led to the lynching of a man, who was beaten to death by at least 12 people at his house in Rancaserdang, Tangerang, Thursday night.

The man, identified as Udin Codet bin Hasin, 27, was the father of a two-year-old child and an 11-month-old baby.

Udin was badly beaten and stabbed with a clurit (sickle) and a crowbar. He suffered wounds to his head, chest and legs and his right eyeball had been pulled out.

Kusnaidi, one of the victim's relatives, said Udin became a target when he tried to earn some extra money by quarrying sand at Rancaserdang River.

Hoodlums consider the river their territory and demand money from any local resident who wants to quarry sand there, he alleged, adding that Udin refused to pay because he had just started working.

"They are fierce people and if they don't like us, they will just beat us without any clear reason," Kusnaidi, who was also working at the Rancaserdang River, said.

He said neighbors told him they saw three cars pull up in front of Udin's house and, although they knew the occupant was being attacked, they were too afraid to help.

Udin had been relaxing with his brother, Mat Halim, when a man entered the house at 9:30 p.m. and grabbed Udin, Kusnaidi quoting Halim as saying.

There were six people in the house at the time but they were all frightened and left the house when they heard screams from the living room, he said.

Halim suffered two deep lacerations to his shoulder during the attack but refused to talk about the incident yesterday.

Halim managed to defend himself and flee the mob but Udin failed to escape as more people attacked him.

Kusnaidi said Udin was dying when he was dragged out of the house and into a car.

It was believed that the car stopped at the Legok Police subprecinct to drop off the dead body, he said.

"We were in a panic because we didn't know where to find Udin. Later police came and told us of Udin's whereabouts," he said, adding that police had sent the body to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital's morgue for a postmortem examination.

"Police also told me that two of the suspects who dropped off Udin's body surrendered themselves but their accomplices were still at large."

"The suspects are Enik and Sya'in, both are hoodlums from Rancaserdang," he alleged. (04)