Man sets fire to shop, sisters die

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police in Pontianak have arrested a man for setting fire to his mother's shophouse, which left two of his sisters dead, Antara has reported.

The fire, which occurred early on Sunday, also razed seven other shophouses, including one owned by the man himself, located in the business area near the Batu Layang bus terminal in the West Kalimantan capital.

Police said the suspect, identified as Ahi alias Bud, 25, intentionally set the fire in a rage following the refusal of his mother, Tham Nyiuk Kim, to give him Rp 2 million the previous day. Ahi said he needed the money to pay for medical treatment for his typhoid.

North Pontianak Police chief Adj. Comr. S. Poernomo said the enraged Ahi poured kerosene onto chairs on the second floor of the shophouse that his mother and sisters resided in. He then set the TV set on fire and fled the building, leaving his mother struggling to douse the flames.

"I did not mean to burn the premises, but I admit that I left the house without trying to extinguish the fire," said Ahi, a fruitmonger.

His sisters, Silvia, 23, and Novita, 18, were trapped in their bedroom. The TV set that Ahi set fire to was located in front of their room.

Police arrested Ahi hours after the incident in Sungai Piyuh outside of Pontianak. He is facing a charge of negligence causing death, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years.

Poernomo said that Ahi had a grudge against his mother since 2001, when he threatened to burn down her shophouse for what he claimed was an unfair inheritance. Ahi only received a shophouse, while his elder sisters were given luxury houses.

Ahi's parents have 12 children.

Silvia and Novita were buried after autopsies were performed on their remains.