Police solve mystery over death of Timor worker

JAKARTA (JP): Police have concluded that the death of a Timorese worker at the giant PT Indocement company in Bogor was not politically motivated as some had suggested, but rather the results of a love triangle gone awry.

Petrus Tomae's death in January prompted a cry for an investigation and encouraged the National Commission on Human Rights to look into the matter as he was originally believed to be an East Timorese.

Petrus' body was found with stab wounds on Jan. 29, two days after he disappeared from his home.

An investigation determined that Petrus hailed from West Timor, and was recruited to work for Indocement by Tiara Foundation, a company that supplies East Timorese workers for jobs in Jakarta and other major cities.

Bogor police, briefing members of the human rights commission and East Timor senior figures at the Indocement plant, said Petrus's death was the result of the jealousy of his wife, a native of Bogor Petrus married three years ago, according to Clementino Dos Reis Amaral, a commission member.

Amaral said that according to the police, the conflict began when Petrus's wife, whose name was withheld, caught her husband having sex with her unmarried younger sister.

The wife then allegedly plotted with her brother and the boyfriend of her sister to "finish" Petrus, he said.

"I believe that the police's theory is well-founded. We (the human rights commission) will investigate if there is evidence of foul play," Amaral told The Jakarta Post by telephone. (pan)