More sodomy victims found

JAKARTA (JP): Two boys rounded up by Central Jakarta Police told the officers they had been victims of sodomy. The two were among 15 boys picked up on Friday.

One of the boys, identified only as A.M., said that a man he called Bang (brother) Edy once sodomized him before forcing him to become a beggar.

Edy is now believed to live in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Another victim, Al, said he had once been sodomized by a friend, identified as Heru. Al did not go into detail.

The 15 boys, aged between nine and 15 years old, are mostly shoeshine boys operating around the Istiqlal Mosque, Senen and Gambir railway stations in Central Jakarta.

Central Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubaker Nataprawira confirmed the boy's reports, which matched the medical team reports on the two.

Central Jakarta Police also picked up 17 male street children on Thursday night, six of them are said to have been sodomized.

Police have intensified their inquires among street children following the finding of eight boy's dead bodies believed to have been murdered before being sodomized.

Abubakar hopes the operation will give him a clue with which to solve the recent sadistic killing of eight boys.

East Jakarta Police have detained three men over the crime. They reportedly admitted to sodomizing the boys but denied killing them.

The case has become another tough case for the police who have been busy staging controversial raids to check for Ecstasy at nightspots.

Also on Friday, the Central Jakarta' public order office arrested a man for gun possession during crackdowns on seven nightspots.

Bunyamin Mursid, the head of the office, said the gun owner, identified as Franky Raweyay, was arrested at Fabrices pub, Wisma GKBI building on Jl. MH Thamrin.

"The man was sent to the Jakarta Military Garrison for further processing," Bunyamin said.

Other establishments raided on that day included the Joker Bar on Jl. Jati Baru, Indah Sari Bar on Jl. K.S. Tubun, Jaya Pub in Jaya building on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Jumpa Discotheque in Equatorial Hotel on Jl. Tanah Abang, Karaoke Zen in Menara Thamrin building on Jl. M.H. Thamrin and Sabang Asih massage parlor on Jl. Palmerah Utara.

Dozens of couples who were netted in the raids were released after presenting their identification cards.

Prostitutes netted in the massage parlor were sent to a social service institute, in Kebun Jeruk, West Jakarta. (jun)