Mother denies reports of Jumadi's death

JAKARTA (JP): Street singer Jumadi, who was reported as murdered last week during the two-day violent demonstrations in the capital, is receiving care in the intensive care unit at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

"Jumadi's condition has improved as he can talk now.

"But, he may lose one of his lungs, as the bullet has severely damaged his left lung," his mother, Iti Mariati, said on Monday.

The 14-year-old Jumadi was admitted to the hospital on Friday night, after he sustained a gunshot wound during the violent demonstration against the endorsement of the state security bill by the House of Representatives.

A convoy of military trucks reportedly opened fire at a crowd on Jl. Sudirman, wounding the young man.

Over the past four months, Junadi has been helping out his parents, who have been suffering financial problems.

Since the incident, some financial assistance has come from friends of the injured man.

"Two persons have donated some money. But, the rest of the bill will still be too much for us to pay," his mother said.

The violent demonstrations last week also brought anguish and uncertainty to the parents of Fadly Muchtar, who was one of the eight people killed over the two days of protests.

"We've lost our only son, who financially supported us in the past two years.

"We're just cigarette vendors, it was our son Fadly who took care of us," Muchtar, father of the 20-year-old Fadly, said after their son's burial procession on Saturday.

Upon graduating from senior high school in mid-1997, Fadly worked at PT Survey Research Indonesia.

On Thursday, Fadly did not return home from his work place. Five of his colleagues, including his supervisor Chandra Munas, took the initiative on Friday morning to check on his whereabouts.

The colleagues visited three hospitals before being informed that Fadly had been sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

They said their colleague's body displayed two shot wounds in the back and that his face was bruised. However, they were unable to clarify the events surrounding his death, as police declined to provide the family any information.

"He lost his soul and all his teeth. Also how could you explain the bruises?" asked Fadly's mother, Mainiar.

Having heard from Fadly's colleagues about how unhelpful the police were in providing information on Fadly's whereabouts, his parents said that they were suspicious their son may have been murdered by security officers. (03)