Pupil held for stabbing school mate

JAKARTA (JP): An elementary student has been arrested in South Jakarta for allegedly stabbing a junior high school student in the chest after an argument between the two, police said.

Police arrested 13-year-old Nurwansyah on Friday morning when he was in class at a state elementary school in Kalibata, South Jakarta.

"He will still be taken to court even though he is just an elementary school student," City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said Saturday.

He said Nurwansyah confessed to stabbing Muchsin Alatas, 13, last Tuesday because he bore a grudge against Muchsin for kicking him when he was involved in an earlier fight with another student.

On Tuesday, Nurwansyah met Muchsin at an amusement center at the Goro wholesaler in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.

Witnesses told police the two immediately got into an argument and Nurwansyah pulled a dagger and held to Muchsin's neck.

If found guilty, he faces a maximum two years and eight months at the children's detention house in Tangerang, West Java, or East Jakarta's Pondok Bambu or Rp 300 (one U.S. cent) fine. (cst)