Robbers steal van, beat and strip woman owner

JAKARTA (JP): Six car thieves stole a 47-year-old woman's car and left her naked on the side of the Jelambar highway, West Jakarta, on Tuesday.

The victim, housewife Julia of Tomang Raya, also in West Jakarta, suffered a bruised back and head as a result of a severe beating.

Capt. Asrofi, deputy head of the West Jakarta police detectives, said on Thursday that car theft that included the undressing of victims had never happened before.

"So far we're still in the dark of the case," he told The Jakarta Post.

According to Julia, she was about to return home from the Sawah Besar market at 7:30 a.m. when six people approached her in the parking lot.

One of them held a kitchen knife to her neck and forced her onto the floor in the back of the car. They then immediately drove off. Bystanders were too afraid to intervene.

"I thought they were going to rape me when they ripped off my clothes," she told the Post.

She received a severe beating from one of the men, who threatened that he would kill her if she screamed.

Many passing cars ignored her after she was left on the side of the Jelambar highway without her clothing. She, however, managed to get the attention of a taxi driver who assisted her in calling a passing police patrol car.

Her oldest child suspects Julia was watched by the thieves over a period of time as she frequently shops at Sawah Besar market.

Two other car thefts involving Toyota Kijang vans were reported in Tangerang and Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday morning.

At 2:45 a.m. Roberto, 20, stopped at a bus stop on Jl. Pos Pasar Baru when two men approached him and stole his gray Toyota Kijang.

In Tigaraksa Tangerang at 3 a.m., 10 people armed with guns and knives made off with 50-year-old Acang's brown Kijang and his two Yamaha RX motorcycles.

Scores of Kijangs, which is a popular make here, have been reported stolen. The car has become an easy target for car thieves, with some not hesitating to use violence in their operations.(03)