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.