Police assault 'Metro TV' woman employee

Evi Mariani, Jakarta

Four Central Jakarta Police detectives were reported to the Jakarta Police for assaulting a private television channel crew member, whom they wrongly identified as a suspected drug dealer.

Metro TV makeup artist Maya Indayu, 31, filed the report on Thursday. She stated at the city police headquarters that the incident took place at around 1 a.m. on Thursday in West Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta.

"I was walking toward my boarding house after work when suddenly three men and a woman grabbed my arms and snatched my handbag," she said. "I thought they were robbers so I screamed for help and fought back. They forced me to get into their minivan ... I was really scared; one of the men pointed a gun at me."

According to Maya, the four people insisted that she was a suspected drug dealer identified as "Dewi", who lived in the area. Maya denied it but they did not believe her. Similarly, she did not believe them either when they claimed to be police detectives.

"One of them slapped my face and another burned my left arm with a lighted cigarette," she said.

A medical report from Cipto Mangunkusumo general hospital states that Maya sustained bruising and an injury to her left ear that damaged her hearing.

Later, Maya spotted a patrolling police car.

"I fought really hard and managed to release myself to run toward the uniformed police officers. I hugged one of them, asking for help," she said.

The police took Maya to the Central Jakarta police station where the misunderstanding was resolved and officers apologized for the detectives' behavior.

Later in the day, a different team of narcotics detectives managed to arrest Dewi at her boarding house near Maya's place.

Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Sukrawardi Dahlan told the media that he regretted the incident, adding that his subordinates had not followed proper procedures when arresting Maya.

"They should have respected the principle of presumption of innocence and treated their suspect properly. They should have asked for proof of Maya's identity first," he said.

Sukrawardi promised to take his subordinates to court instead of dealing with them via the police internal affairs department.