Man suspected of slaying his wife

JAKARTA (JP): Police believe a woman, who had her neck slashed Saturday at her house on Jl. Bojong Utama IV in the Narogong Indah housing complex, East Bekasi, was killed by her husband.

Head of the Bekasi Police precinct Let. Col. (Pol) Adjie Rustam said yesterday a kitchen knife had been used to inflict the 10-centimeter neck wound.

The victim, identified as Christina Dwinanda Mardi, 32, is believed to have died instantly.

Adjie said Christina's husband, identified only as AP, 33, had officially been named a suspect after he turned himself over to police Saturday.

The couple were both employees of the Ministry of Finance, and their only son, Yoga, 2, is under the temporary care of the Bekasi Islamic Center.

"To date we don't have any clear answers about the motive for the killing because the suspect is still in a distraught state," Adjie said, adding that AP was being treated at Kramat Jati Hospital in East Jakarta.

The victim's neighbors said they only found out about the killing when police arrived at the house.

One of the neighbors, Hendrawan, said the victim's husband had just returned after six months in Aceh, where he was on an official assignment.

"The couple seemed to get along well. I'm surprised that he (the husband) could do such a cruel thing," he said.

After a postmortem examination at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, the body was taken to Surabaya by the woman's relatives for burial on Saturday afternoon.

In a separate incident, three junior high school students drowned Saturday in Angke River, West Jakarta, while attempting to avoid a street fight between students of SMP 205 and another junior high school.

The victims -- Parhanuddin, Eko Yudi and Arifin -- were found by local residents and their friends, who spent 30 minutes searching the river for the three students after they jumped in.

"None of them were involved in the brawl. We deeply regret this," Chief of West Jakarta Police precinct Let. Col. Timur Pradopo was quoted by Pos Kota as saying.

Timur said that even though the three students were not killed in the brawl, the police would thoroughly investigate the confrontation.

About 26 students were rounded up for questioning.

Relatives and friends attended the three students' funeral at a nearby public cemetery in Semanan, West Jakarta, yesterday. (edt/09)