Rape suspect sent to city police for interrogation

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta police detectives have sent one of two alleged rapists of a young woman in a taxi to the Jakarta Police Detectives for further investigation into the possibility he committed other rapes in the past.

"We applaud the brave woman who came forward and reported the rape. Not many rape victims would take such tough steps. We are somehow sure that Rusdi and friends have committed other rapes which we are probably not aware of," Maj. Rycko Amelza Daniel said.

The South Jakarta Mobile Police detectives (Resmob) took 12 hours to arrest four men in connection with the Friday night rape.

Police chief Col. Nono Suprijono identified the four as Rusdi, 24, the alleged taxi driver and rapist; Koming, 33, who also allegedly raped the victim after hiding in the taxi's trunk; Iwan bin Abdul Manan, alias Iwan, 34, Rusdi's friend who allegedly helped withdraw money from the woman's bank account; and Suhadi, 44, the taxi driver who, detectives say, leased the Koperasi Taxi Sepakat (Kotas) taxi to Rusdi.

A source at the South Jakarta Police station said that following the physical examination at Kramatjati Police Hospital in East Jakarta, 23-year-old Ruth, which is not her real name, narrated her story to Chief Warrant Officer (Peltu) Purwani of the women's desk division at the station.

"Peltu Purwani led the Mobile Police unit in the field. She went to the station to hear the girl's story on Saturday night. On Sunday, she was in the field," the source said.

"When Ruth regained consciousness, she remembered where the taxi stopped and she was raped, and where the alleged rapists picked up Iwan."

Iwan was the first of four suspects to be picked up at his house on Jl. Balai Ujung No. 15 in Cinere.

"Iwan confessed that when he was picked up by the two men, they had gone to Cinere mall, where Rusdi gave Iwan the personal idenitifcation number (PIN) of Ruth's Citibank ATM card. No money could be withdrawn out of the ATM. Rusdi got angry after they went to Puri Indah Mall in West Jakarta only to find that they couldn't make a withdrawal from there either," the source said.

"It was at the Pondok Indah Citibank ATM card booth that they got US$200 out."

Iwan confessed that he withdrew $200, but quietly stashed $100 in his pocket. He handed the remaining bill to Rusdi, who gave Iwan Rp 100,000 for helping with the "ATM headache".

Police also divulged that Koming, a father of five children and a graduate of SMP Negeri IV junior high school in Blitang, South Sumatra, and Rusdi wore "magic beads" for greater sexual satisfaction.

Separately, Neneng Haryani, reported to the South Jakarta Police that the two men implicated in Tuesday's report allegedly robbed her of Rp 1.65 million, a cell phone, pearl earrings, gold bracelets and a wristwatch.

"Rusdi and Koming are thieves. I was robbed on Dec. 30 by them. When I saw their photos in today's papers, I immediately came here to see them for myself," the 22-year-old woman who works at a clothing store in the Melawai area said.

"I had taken the Kotas taxi on Jl. Melawai, just like Ruth, and wanted to go home to Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, but those two idiots drove me around and around for two hours before they robbed me and threw me out, blindfolded and gagged in Bumi Karang Indah in South Jakarta," Neneng said. (ylt)