Police puzzle over woman's death in Pulogadung cell
Police puzzle over woman's death in Pulogadung cell
JAKARTA (JP): Police said yesterday that the death of a 40-
year-old housewife in a cell of the Pulogadung police sub-
precinct in East Jakarta on Monday is a mystery to them.
"We're still investigating the case," City Police Chief Maj.
Gen. Dibyo Widodo told reporters yesterday.
Four policemen at the sub-precinct are believed to know why
and how the housewife died and Dibyo has pledged to take stiff
measures against them if they are found guilty of any wrongdoing.
The four are now being interrogated by military police.
Unfortunately, the two-star general refused to reveal any
information obtained during the interrogation about a number of
Pulogadung police sub-precinct personnel. The questioning started
on Wednesday.
Housewife Yuliani was found dead by her brother, Abraham, in
her cell on Monday, two days after she had been "picked up" for
questioning from her home in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, by
Pulogadung police for allegedly breaking a glass window of her
neighbor's house after a heated quarrel.
Her family reportedly failed to arrange an autopsy of the
deceased.
A police officer at the sub-precinct said earlier that the
woman was dead after she banged her head several times on the
wall.
The identities of the four Pulogadung personnel as well as the
address of the victim's relatives have not been revealed.
Residents of Kampung Kramat subdistrict at Kramat Jati, where
the victim was reported to have lived, told The Jakarta Post that
there was not a woman named Yuliani in the area.
However, police insisted that the victim's address was Kampung
Kramat, Kramat Jati.
Lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan from the Legal Aid Foundation's
Jakarta office told reporters yesterday that the police should
exhume the body of Yuliani and arrange a post mortem examination.
"The City Police have no choice if they want to be respected
and trusted by the public," Luhut said.
Earlier on Wednesday, East Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col.
Miyanto told reporters that the case had been solved with
Yuliani's family.
"There's no more problem (between the police and the victim's
relatives) because it has been solved already," he said but
refused to elaborate.
Yuliani reportedly had a heated quarrel with Maisyah, one of
her neighbors on Friday. After the argument, Yuliani threw
something at Maisyah's house which apparently broke a window.
Maisyah's husband, whose identity is apparently unknown,
reported the case to the Pulogadung police chief, who reportedly
was his close friend. (bsr)