Residents flee homes to avoid brawl

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.