Police point to drowning in slaying of woman, daughter

TANGERANG (JP): Preliminary results of a police investigation revealed on Tuesday that the four children alleged to have killed their mother and sister may have drowned them in a water tank at the family's house.

"Based on the suspects' confessions, both victims were pushed in the tank. We also found bubbles coming from the victims' mouths," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said on Tuesday.

Pudji said on Monday the four suspects, aged between 12 to 21 years old, admitted to police that they had killed their mother Minah, 45, and sister Erna, 17, on Sunday morning at the family's house in Cipondoh.

None of the suspects were clear about the motives to kill, he said.

Pudji said on Monday that they were probably possessed by evil spirits.

Further autopsy results were still expected in order to clarify the cause of death, he said on Tuesday.

"We also found a hammer which the suspects claimed was used as a weapon in the killing," Pudji said.

But he added there was no trace of blood found on the hammer.

"Blood stains were only found on the floor in the guest room of the house," Pudji said.

The four suspects, identified as Erni, Zaimi, Nurochman and Abdul Latif, were questioned intensively by the police.

All children, except for Erni, are awaiting further cross- examining by police psychologists to determine their mental health.

Twenty-one-year-old Erni is undergoing treatment at the Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta as she was reported to be severely affected by the incident.

"Erni was mentioned as the major player in this murder case, but we cannot question her properly because she is not stable enough.

"The three boys can respond to the police's questions but sometimes they say some weird things," Pudji said.

Zaimi told the police that there was somebody else who knew about the killing. But no further details were available.

Pudji reiterated that the involvement of psychologists in the investigation was necessary to justify whether the children were in a trance when the murders occurred.

"It is hard to bring this case to court if we're not able to prove the condition of the suspects during the murder.

"We do not know for sure if it's true that they were possessed by evil spirits. Who can ever prove that? Moreover, a possessed person can only be cured by a psychic.

"In this case, when police detectives arrived at the crime scene, the children who were thought to be under evil spirits' influence, were normal," Pudji said. (41/edt)