One dies in village brawl in Bengkalis regency
One dies in village brawl in Bengkalis regency
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau
A brawl erupted between villagers of Kuala Merbau, Bengkalis
regency, Riau province, leaving at least one person dead and two
others severely wounded, police said on Monday.
Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Deddy S. Komaruddin said officers
arrested six suspects after the brawl on Friday, which involved
hundreds of villagers.
"Bengkalis Police have secured six suspects and are looking
for three others. We hope the violence will not spread," he told
The Jakarta Post here.
He said local police were mediating talks between the feuding
parties to embrace and promote peace, through the community
leaders of the rival parties.
The dead victim was identified as Azhar, 31, from the RW1
neighborhood. He died from stab wounds.
The two wounded victims are Syaiful, 35, whose left hand was
severed, and Bakhtiar, 30, who lost three of his fingers. They
were admitted to Bengkalis General Hospital for treatment.
The clash broke out on Friday about 10:30 p.m. between the RW1
and RW2 neighborhoods of Kuala Merbau village, believed to have
been sparked by a personal vendetta.
Local residents said the brawl took place after Azhar was
attacked by a group of armed people from RW 2.
"We believe there were 30 attackers, and nine of them are
suspected of leading the brawl," Deddy said.
Riau Police deputy chief Sr. Comr. Soewadji, accompanied by
Bengkalis Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Slamet Rianto, had gone to
the location of the unrest to restore peace there.
He suspected revenge was the reason behind the violence,
following an unrest in May when youths from RW1 attacked a man
from the rival neighborhood.
Haidir, 35, from the village confirmed the brawl was sparked
by a vendetta between youths from the two feuding neighborhoods.
Police are investigating the cause of the incident.
Bengkalis Deputy Regent Reza Pahlevi regretted the brawl that
took place only three days after Idul Fitri, and urged local
villagers to exercise self-restraint and avoid being provoked
into violent acts.
Separately, in Magelang, Central Java, police said on Monday
they had arrested four people charged with starting a brawl on
Sunday between residents of Punduhan hamlet, Sambakan village,
and those of Marjoyo hamlet, Banjaragung village, Kajoran
subdistrict.
"By 3 p.m. on Monday, four suspects had been arrested and are
being questioned," Magelang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus
Sofyan Abadi was quoted by Antara as saying.
He declined to identify the four detainees, saying more
suspects could be arrested soon.
The Sunday clash left four people -- Wahyudi, 25, Wahyono, 23,
Sutoyo, 27, and Nugroho, 18 -- injured and nine houses damaged.
The violence was allegedly caused by a dispute between two
local youths Wahyono, 23, and Rois Kurniawan, 15, over a girl.
Rois, from Marjoyo, apparently became jealous when Wahyono,
from Punduhan, escorted his girlfriend Wasil, 14, home.
Wahyono was later stopped by two youths on his way back from
Wasil's house. After they let him go, Wahyono and his friend
Sutoyo, 27, went to Marjoyo to find the youths but failed.
Hours later, 15 youths from Marjoyo went to Sambakan to find
Wahyono and beat him up. Several of his friends escaped the
attack.
Later, around 200 Sambakan villagers went to Marjoyo to search
for Wahyono's attackers, but failing to find them, they instead
destroyed several houses.
Dozens of Magelang police officers remained on guard at the
two villages to prevent further violence.