Police announce new identity of mutilated body

Police announce new identity of mutilated body

JAKARTA (JP): Based on a detailed description given by family
members, city police on Wednesday identified a mutilated body
discovered earlier this week as Sumarsana, 33, an employee of
plastic household manufacturer PT Lion Star in Cengkareng, West
Jakarta.

The motive for the murder and mutilation remains unknown due
to a lack of leads, according to the police.

Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said his
office had made the preliminary identification based on physical
details provided by Sumarsana's relatives.

"But we don't want to speculate about the case. If family
members can prove that they see marks on the mutilated body which
are identical to marks on their relative's body, we'll build the
case so we can go after the murderer as soon as possible,"
Noegroho announced.

Police originally believed the mutilated body was a man
identified as Sugantio, a food vendor and resident of Tanjung
Priok in North Jakarta. However, upon hearing the reports on
Wednesday, Sugantio returned to his home and let relatives know
that he was still alive.

"We checked Sugantio's house. He's alive," Jakarta Police
detective chief Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said.

The head of Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital's forensics
department, Budi Sampurna, said, if necessary, he and his staff
could carry out a DNA test to positively identify the body as
Sumarsana.

According to Budi, if any of Sumarsana's relatives had a
sample of his fingerprints, it would provide authorities the
quickest way to establish the identity of the victim.

Police did not disclose whether they already had a sample of
Sumarsana's fingerprints they could match with fingerprints
obtained from the corpse.

However, Hartini, one of Samarsana's two sisters living in
Jakarta, said her brother's fingerprints matched those of the
corpse.

Decent person

Hartini and Sri Yanti, Sumarsana's other sister, are convinced
the corpse is that of their missing brother, the fourth of six
children. The siblings parents currently reside in Klaten,
Central Java.

The sisters displayed a photo of Sumarsana, which matched the
face of the corpse.

"Sumarsana was known to his family and friends as a kind and
decent person," Hartini said.

She said Sumarsana left Klaten for Jakarta in 1985 and
graduated from the Institute of Teachers Training and Education
Sciences (IKIP) several years later.

Sumarsana rented a room at a boarding house on Jl. Dr. Susilo
in Grogol, West Jakarta, and had worked at Lion Star since 1996,
she said.

"I saw him for the last time on Friday," Hartini said.

The women were attempting to gain permission to bring the body
of their brother back home to Klaten for burial.

However, police refused to grant them permission, saying the
corpse was the only evidence they had at the moment.

"At this time, the deceased is our only clue to lead us to the
murderer," Noegroho said.

The two-star general said the mutilated body could be buried
only after police collected data for their investigation.

Police detectives are already tracing any information about
Sumarsana in a number of areas across the capital. Police have
been questioning Sumarsana's girlfriend Sri Lestari Setyawati
since early Wednesday.

Sumarsana told his sisters he planned to marry Sri Lestari,
better-known as Wati, after Idul Fitri, which falls in January
next year. The sisters, however, were never introduced to the
woman.

Wati, a resident of Tebet, South Jakarta, is a teacher at
state-run junior high school SMP 01 in Tangerang. She also
studies at IKIP Muhammadiyah Jakarta.

Imam, 48, Wati's brother-in-law, said Wati had known Sumarsana
for six months.

"Sumarsana's family planned to come here to get to know our
family before the two young people got married," he said, adding
that the marriage was scheduled to be held in September this
year.

Wati was hysterical when police showed her a photo of the
corpse's head, Imam said.

Separately, Rasyidi, 55, the owner of the boarding house where
Sumarsana stayed, said he saw the victim for the last time on
Sunday morning.

"It was around 10 a.m or 11 a.m. He went out with a young
woman named Titik and never came back to his room," Rasyidi said.

He said Sumarsana rarely talked to the other people in the
boarding house.

"He used to go to his job in Kapuk at 7 a.m. and come back at
6 p.m., going to his room to listen to the radio or watch TV," he
said.

Rasyidi said an employee from PT Lion Star called him on
Tuesday morning and asked why Sumarsana had not showed up for
work on Monday and Tuesday.(asa/04/emf)