Scavengers burn friend to death over hut fire

JAKARTA (JP): Angry scavengers from Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta tied the hands and legs of a fellow scavenger with wire on Monday before setting him ablaze and burning him to death, for allegedly burning down several huts in the area.

West Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Iwan Ismet told reporters on Monday that the scavenger, Sutarno, alias Kebo, 46, had accidentally burned down the huts of 12 scavengers living in the area.

Sutarno had asked for some money. When other local scavengers refused, Sutarno kicked over a stove that fell and set the huts ablaze.

"The angry scavengers then tracked Sutarno down, tied him up and burned him to death. Police are still investigating the case," Iwan told reporters on Monday.

The charred corpse of Sutarno was found by a cleaner in a trashbin behind Mal Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta, on Monday.

The head of the local neighborhood community, Karimun Usman, said that Sutarno lived behind the mall. The corpse, Karimun said, was found by a local resident Madjid, 50, who had gone to dispose trash at 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

The police took the body to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) morgue for a postmortem examination.

Parmin, 36, a scavenger in the neighborhood, gave a different account, saying that Sutarno was burned to death by "local residents."

Parmin said Sutarno got angry when local people, who had assigned Sutarno to collect garbage from the area and keep the neighborhood clean, refused to pay him.

Several residents, whose huts were gutted by fire, searched for Sutarno on Sunday night after the fire. After finding Sutarno, the residents tied both his legs and hands with wires and questioned him.

"During the interrogation, Sutarno gave funny answers which made the residents even more furious. Ignoring Sutarno's screams, the residents then placed him into a trash bin, doused gasoline on him and burned him alive," he told the Jakarta Post. (01/ylt)