Police probe vandalism of churches in Bekasi

JAKARTA (JP): Police are still investigating vandalism of at least three churches and a private school believed to have been committed by hundreds of unknown people in Kali Abang subdistrict, Bekasi on Saturday night.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said on Monday that the windows of the churches and the school were stoned by at least 200 people.

"According to the local residents, the attackers were from another area," Aritonang told the media.

By Monday, the Bekasi police -- which is under the supervision of the Greater Jakarta police -- had yet to arrest anybody in the case.

A witness who asked for anonymity said the attackers first arrived at a Toba Batak Protestant (HKBP) church, which is also used as a house, in the Harapan Baru housing complex in four overloaded trucks at about 10 p.m. and started to pelt stones at the place of worship.

He said the police and military officers who came to the location 30 minutes later managed to disperse the attackers.

But the unidentified group then headed to the nearby Pondok Ungu Permai housing complex and pelted another HKPB church and the privately-run Flora school, the witness said.

"It looks like they had properly planned their action," he added.

The Flora school, which runs pre-school, elementary school and junior high school divisions, was still off on Monday in accordance with the Ramadhan fasting month.

The school, run by a Catholic foundation, is a general school which also teaches Islamic religion as well as other religions to their 180 students, one of the teachers, Ririn said.

The attackers stoned the school windows and burned some of the school's chairs at the school compound, Ririn explained.

The mysterious group only left the site after the local security forces arrived at the scene, she said.

The mobs in the three trucks then, according to the witness, headed to a Bethel church located in the other block of the housing complex and attempted to start damaging it when the local residents rushed to the site to stop them.

The group then hastily left the scene, he said.

During his visit to the sites on Monday, Bekasi Deputy Mayor Nonon Sontani regretted the incident and urged the public to stop destroying religious houses and public facilities. (jun)