School girls drown in Permata Hijau swimming pool

JAKARTA (JP): At least three unnatural deaths occurred over the weekend in greater Jakarta, including the drowning of two elementary school students, and a murder over a minor misunderstanding.

In the first incident, two elementary school students drowned on Saturday in a swimming pool, in the Permata Hijau housing complex in Grogol Utara, Kebayoran Lama district of South Jakarta.

Morgue staff member Edo of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) morgue in Central Jakarta identified the two victims as Alasyah Septiana, 11, and Siti Rochmiyati, 11, who were close friends.

Quoting Alasyah's mother, Sulastri, Edo said that the students of an elementary school in Grogol Utara, were taking private lessons, and were on their way home with their friends.

Suddenly, Edo said, Alasyah asked her friend Siti to come with her to an empty house in the Permata Hijau housing complex, where there was a swimming pool.

"Both Alasyah and Siti were planning to swim, but as the pool was not maintained and was covered with algae, the two children slipped and fell into the pool. They floundered in the water and finally drowned," Edo said.

"There was another girl there but she could not swim. She ran home and started to weep uncontrollably. Her mother finally got the truth out of her, and the mother notified her neighbors who together went to the empty house."

"The neighbors jumped into the pool, only to find the corpses of both the children."

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said on Monday that in the latest case, a man was brutally beaten to death for allegedly spreading lies about a fish pond, in the Petukangan Selatan area of Pesanggrahan, South Jakarta.

He said that Suma Yahya, 43, was repeatedly punched in his chest and abdomen, until he died, allegedly by Mukhlis, an owner of a fish pond in Petukangan Selatan, on Saturday afternoon.

The incident was witnessed by Suma's wife.

Suma was assaulted as he reportedly spread "lies" that Mukhlis's fish pond contained no more fish.

Mukhlis is now in police custody.

In a similar incident, a man, his wife and his nine-year-old child, were beaten up very badly by their neighbor on Saturday, because the family had failed to pay their debts to the neighbor.

The wife, Wakinah, told police that the family had bought some cloth on loan from Farsi, 25, which they were going to sell off at a profit.

However, Anton said, the family had failed to sell the cloth by the agreed date, and therefore promised to pay off the loan at a later date, on May 15.

Farsi, however, did not agree and started pushing around Wakinah at her home, threatening to kill her.

Anton said that hearing the commotion, Wakinah's husband, Ujang, came out of his room and tried to reason with Farsi. Farsi then took up a huge object and started hitting Ujang with it, until he bled.

"Ujang escaped, and immediately ran to the West Bekasi Police subprecinct. In that time, Wakinah ran to carry her nine-year-old child. Farsi cornered her and started beating her, and stuck the child on the forehead," Anton said.

When Ujang arrived with the police, Farsi got scared and offered to make peace with the family, and to pay up the family's medical bills.

"Wakinah however, wants the incident to be handled as a police case," Anton said.(ylt)