Mistery shrouds housewife's death

TANGERANG (JP): Local police detectives are still in the dark over the death of a young housewife found two days ago with plastic twine tied around her neck at her rented house in the Kampung Sawah area of Ceper district.

From strangulation scars around her neck, Tangerang Police detective chief Capt. Krisnandi speculated on Thursday that Sri Dayanti, 22, was murdered.

The police, he said, had difficulty finding clues since the house was already cleaned up by the culprit or culprits, he said.

"We only found the plastic twine and a broken glass as evidence," Krisnandi said, adding that no one had been named a suspect so far.

Dayanti, an employee of a garment factory, was found on Tuesday afternoon by her husband Slamet Sunardi, 23. They were married three months ago.

A preliminary police investigation indicated the victim called her office early in the morning that she could not go to work on that day as she had a problem with her eyes.

Some of her neighbors, including Iyas Nimar, 39, saw her in the morning.

"I saw her buying some vegetables at a small shop," Iyas said.

Her husband, Sunardi, an employee at a nearby auto repair shop, had lunch from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the house before going back to work.

Darsono, a colleague at the shop, saw Sunardi back at work with a pair of mismatched sandals; a rubber one on his left foot and a leather one on the other.

"At that time, we jokingly told him that something bad might happen to him," recalled Darsono.

Iyas said the last time she saw Dayanti was about 2 p.m. when the latter was bringing in her dried clothes.

A few minutes later, she said she heard a loud scream from the house.

"I was afraid to go into the house at the time," the neighbor said.

Neighbors learned Dayanti was dead when her husband screamed for help at 5 p.m.

Sunardi said he found his wife dead with the twine still tight around her neck.

Before he asked the neighbors' help to call police, Sunardi said he carried the body to the bed.

Sunardi reported later that cash worth Rp 250,000, which he and his wife planned to use for rent and daily needs, was stolen.

No other things were missing from the house, he said.

Neighbors remember Dayanti as a pleasant but quiet woman.

After a postmortem examination at Tangerang General Hospital here, the body will be buried at Kebumen, Central Java.

Krisnandi said the police found no clues which could suggest a possible suicide or prior sexual assault. (41/bsr)