More women fall victim to taxi robbery

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Amid almost no progress in police investigation into robberies taking place inside taxis, more and more Jakartans, mostly women are falling victim.

The latest case, the 16th since March this year, took place on Monday night, when two women took a taxi from Pasar Rebo hospital in East Jakarta.

The victims were identified as Juli Dakrina, 26, a nurse and her friend, Juwita Baku, 36, who is a teacher.

In their report to the police, released on Tuesday, the women were on their way to their houses in Kampung Duku, Kramatjati subdistrict, East Jakarta.

The driver stopped the car near a park next to the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) in Cawang, East Jakarta. He told the two that the taxi had a flat tire.

Several minutes after he stopped, two men approached the taxi brandishing knives and got into the taxi.

The driver drove to Tomang and Grogol in West Jakarta and to Ancol and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta before dropping the two women on a toll road near Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

The two men took the victims' cellular phones and Rp 445,000 (some US$45) in cash.

The police are still hunting the three suspects as described by the victims.

Previously, a taxi driver robbed South Korean Nam Ho In, 41. He was found lying unconscious and injured in Kampung Curug, Sawangan, Depok. Police said he was robbed while taking a taxi from a discotheque in South Jakarta to his home in Cempaka Putih, East Jakarta.

From the 16 cases, the police have only arrested one robber as the victim, Halimah, 30, fought back and called people's attention.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) have blamed the rampant taxi robberies on a policy of the city administration which allows individuals to own taxis and to hire drivers to operate them instead of the taxis being company owned. The policy makes it difficult for the administration and the police to control the security of taxis operating in the city.