Police seem less concerned over child kidnapping cases
Police seem less concerned over child kidnapping cases
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police appear to pay less attention to the kidnapping case
involving a quartet led by two brothers, who have so far claimed
the lives of two children, compared to last week's shootings of a
businessman and his bodyguard.
At Jakarta Police headquarters, the heads of several divisions
that seemed likely to be involved in solving kidnappings, were
unaware of the case when questioned by The Jakarta Post.
They were also unable to say which criminal division was
responsible for investigating the kidnapping, which also involves
rape and murder.
"We have not received any reports on kidnapping cases
involving children so far... The case is probably being handled
by detectives of the Robbery-Homicide division," said Anang
Sutanto, a senior officer at the division of Crimes Against
Children, Teenagers and Women.
Adj. Sr. Comr. Idham Azis, head of Vice Control and Robbery-
Homicide division, claimed that the city police had not received
any information about the kidnapping case.
"The case is most likely being handled by detectives from the
police precincts of areas where the abductions took place," he
said.
Adj. Sr. Comr. Trihadi, the head of the Mobile Detective
division, which usually handles violent street crimes, claimed
that his office had not received information on the crime,
either.
Their statements were in direct contrast to the statement made
by Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo, who had claimed
earlier that the City Police would support the investigation, as
the case involved several provincial police forces.
"We will continue to track down the suspects," he had
promised.
The serial kidnapping gang -- allegedly led by brothers Jerry,
alias Jefry Saputra, 25, and Dani, alias Deni Saputra, 21 -- have
brutally raped and murdered a 23-month-old baby girl kidnapped in
Pademangan, North Jakarta, and a nine-year-old girl abducted in
Cipayung, East Jakarta.
Currently, the Saputras -- who are believed to be assisted by
a man and a woman -- are holding two kidnapping victims and have
demanded a ransom. They are also believed to be responsible for
two other kidnappings in Tangerang between March and July.
Although the kidnappings involve more victims, the police have
deployed more detectives to handle the shootings of PT Asaba
president director Boedyharto Angsono and his bodyguard, First
Sgt. Edy Siyet of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) antiterror
group.
In the isolated shooting case, police have even dispatched
high-ranking detectives, or Adjutant Senior Commissioners, to
hunt down the suspects. In contrast, the highest officer
investigating the serial kidnappings is ranked First Inspector,
three ranks below Adjutant Senior Commissioner.
Another disparity is in their investigation budgets, as police
officers receive Rp 250,000 (US$29.40) to handle a single high-
profile case, while they receive only Rp 7,500 for a petty crime
case.
Criminologist Erlangga Masdiana of the University of Indonesia
has criticized the police of being too busy handling big cases to
address petty cases, including the kidnappings.
He also said that the public needed to pressure the police to
solve the case.
Erlangga added that although the police already had a photo
and sketches of the suspects, it was understandable that they did
not want to distribute them, for the sake of the hostages.
"The suspects are presumably psychologically disturbed,
therefore the police may have to consider -- if we distribute the
pictures -- what they could do to their victims," he said,
referring to the two murdered children.