Six declared suspects in Indramayu mass brawl

Six declared suspects in Indramayu mass brawl

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu, West Java

Police authorities have declared six villagers as suspects
involved in a mass brawl in Arahan district, Indramayu regency,
West Java on Saturday which injured two persons and left 29
houses completely burned and 27 destroyed.

Local police chief Adj. Sr. Comm. Eko Hadi Sutedjo said
Tuesday that the six, all from Linggajati village, Cantigi
district, were caught destroying and burning houses belonging to
Arahan Kidul and Arahan Lor villagers.

"They will be charged with violating Article No. 406 of the
Criminal Code on destruction," Eko said.

The six have been identified as Kastoni, 30, Sukri Gojali, 31,
Kusnadi, 30, Salim, 31, Judi, 31, and Slamet, 32.

The mass brawl also forced over 1,000 Arahan Kidul and Arahan
Lor villagers to flee their homes.

The violence started in the early morning hours on Saturday
when youths from Linggajati village suddenly attacked Arahan
Kidul and Arahan Lor villages.

They were apparently angered by youths from Arahan Lor and
Arahan Kidul villages during a public musical performance
featuring dangdut and traditional music called Tarling at the
Cantigi district the night before.

The youths from Linggajati village, whose numbers far exceeded
those of the youths from Arahan Kidul and Arahan Lor villages,
dominated the event. The situation became tense after youths from
Arahan Kidul and Arahan Lor began igniting large firecrackers to
attract attention.

That angered youths from Linggajati village and at 2 a.m. on
Saturday, they attacked Arahan Kidul and Arahan Lor villages.
Four houses were heavily damaged in the attack.

At around 8 p.m. on Saturday, the Linggajati youths again
attacked the two villages with a bigger mob. This time, however,
Arahan Kidul and Arahan Lor villagers counterattacked.

The brawl stopped only after hundreds of security personnel --
police and troops -- were deployed in the area, arresting anyone
involved in the attack.

"We are surprised with the second attack because actually the
disputing parties had already agreed to reconcile after the first
attack," Arahan district head Supardi told reporters.

Two injured victims, Tarkiman, 28, and Kalam, 43, are still in
the intensive care units of the Indramayu General Hospital and
Gunung Jati Hospital in Cirebon.

"We are still calculating the losses that the villagers have
suffered, but I predict the losses will be between hundreds of
millions and one billion rupiah," Eko said.

By Tuesday, the situation there had already returned to
normal.

Eko said that he had withdrawn some 300 police from the scene
after the situation was stabilized.

Supardi said most villagers who fled to paddy fields and took
refuge in sports fields near the villages had returned home after
the police guaranteed their security.

"They began to fix their damaged houses while villagers whose
houses are burnt down are staying at their relatives' homes," he
said.

Supardi and Eko, however, said that there would be no
compensation fund or financial assistance for brawl victims.

"This case cannot be categorized as a natural disaster so they
should accept the damage as one of the risks of living here. This
will teach them that brawling really gives trouble," Eko said.