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)