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)