Man burned to death for theft

TANGERANG: Residents of Mekar Jaya, Serpong, burned a man to death late on Sunday for allegedly attempting to steal a motorcycle belonging to a member of a polling station committee.

The dead man, identified as Jumroni, 24, a resident of Carenang, Cisoka district, was reportedly caught red-handed with another man making off with the motorcycle, which was parked near a newly-erected polling station, at about 10:30 p.m.

The motorcycle's owner, Yahya, said he and other committee members were attending a coordination meeting on the final preparations for the legislative elections on Monday.

"It was only a few minutes after I arrived when I saw the two men taking my bike. I spontaneously shouted 'thief'," Yahya said.

Local people chased the pair and managed to pull the dead man off the back of the motorcycle. They then set him alight after dousing him with gasoline.

The man was already dead by the time the police arrived, and his remains were later sent to the morgue at Tangerang General Hospital.

"I regret that these residents felt it necessary to take the law into their own hands," Serpong Police chief Adj. Comr. Kostbar said, but failed to confirm whether any members of the mob would be prosecuted. -- JP