Mistery shrouds housewife's death

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)