Residents flee homes to avoid brawl

JAKARTA (JP): A number of residents of Pasar Gembrong attacked residents of Kampung Rawa in Central Jakarta early on Saturday in the latest mass brawl to have hit the capital.

Central Jakarta Police spokesman, Jasmin, confirmed on Saturday that the mass brawl began at 2 a.m. and ended at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.

He said the police were trying to calm the situation in the two subdistricts. But it had not yet made any arrests.

There were no casualties in the brawl, but many residents left their houses on Saturday morning to take refuge in other subdistricts or at their relatives' houses, Jasmin said.

"We were attacked by residents of Pasar Gembrong. They pelted stones at our houses, broke our windows during their rampage," Sukimin, a resident of Kampung Rawa, told Antara.

He added that many of them had brought samurai swords.

According to Sukimin, who moved his family to a house near the subdistrict, the mass brawl originated from a small brawl during the independence day celebrations in August between a resident of Pasar Gembrong who angered Kampung Rawa residents after he disrupted a celebratory contest.

He could not accept the situation so he sought revenge, which only provoked revenge from the other side.

"This was not the first time. On the night of Aug. 17 after the celebrations, they attacked us. But that attack was not as serious as this one, " said Sukimin.

The capital city has seen "routine student brawls", has been hit by a number of communal brawls during the last few years, resulting in the deaths of several people. Most of the brawls were actually caused by trivial issues, such as mocking each other.

This year alone has seen two large communal brawls.

In March a mass brawl occurred at Pasar Kebayoran Lama, which was said to involve people from two different ethnic origins in Sumatra and Java. During the brawl, several people were reported to have been killed. Police arrested a number of suspects.

In May, a communal brawl also hit the district of Cilincing, North Jakarta, leaving at least one person dead.

Several cities across the country have also experienced communal brawls.