Man mobbed for alleged theft

Man mobbed for alleged theft

JAKARTA (JP): A 21-year-old man was severely beaten on Monday
afternoon by bystanders on Jl. Baladewa, Cempaka Putih, who
suspected he took a bus passenger's gold necklace.

Sorta Purnama, 40, told police he had just got off a Metromini
bus on Jl. Jend. Suprapto in Galur when a man suddenly snatched
his ten-gram gold necklace, worth Rp 10 million, and ran off.

"I was shocked for a few seconds, but then I shouted 'thief'
repeatedly while pointing at the man running away," he said.

He said several ojek (motorcycle taxi) riders and local
residents immediately chased the man and caught him. The thief
was surrounded and hit with anything available at the scene.

The crowd slowly dispersed after the man lay on the sidewalk
bleeding, Sorta said. A local member of the civil police
auxiliaries who witnessed the incident took the injured man to
the Central Jakarta Police station, along with Sorta's gold
necklace as evidence.

The public service unit of the police station identified the
man as Rachman, a resident of Pasar Gembrong, Johar Baru in the
Senen district of Central Jakarta.(01)