Robbers steal van, beat and strip woman owner

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)