Police hunt maid's killers

JAKARTA (JP): Police are still hunting the four robbers who murdered a housemaid Wednesday and kidnapped two women in Pluit, North Jakarta, an officer said yesterday.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the police had already identified the suspects.

"So far, the police are only naming the four men as suspects. But there are possibilities that other people, particularly those who knew the victims, could also be named as suspects," Aritonang told The Jakarta Post.

The housemaid killed by the four men was identified as Ati, while the kidnapped women were Ati's employers Linda, 47, and Fung Yu Moi, 70.

According to Aritonang, Ati was killed because she saw the robbers jump over the fence into the house's front garden.

"The robbers slashed her in her waist, stomach and ear with sickles soon after they approached the panicking Ati, who was screaming for help," Aritonang said.

He said that the robbers went into the house and tied up three of Linda's children in the shower.

The four men then forced Linda to give them her money, jewelry, and mobile phones.

Aritonang said that the men later took away Linda and her mother Fung Yu Moi in Linda's car and left them on the street in Lemahabang, Bekasi, West Java.

Aritonang said that Linda did not make a phone call to her home as was reported by many newspapers yesterday. The reality was that she asked passersby to call the local police.

"The Lemahabang police then contacted the Penjaringan police to check Linda's house, while Linda's children also reported the incident to the Penjaringan police," Aritonang said.

Aritonang said that Linda and her mother were unharmed and returned home safely on Thursday. (27)