Soldier allegedly shoots prostitute 'girlfriend'

JAKARTA (JP): A 28-year-old prostitute suffered a gunshot wound to her left thigh after an Army officer allegedly fired his gun early Friday morning in the Rawamalang area of Cilincing, North Jakarta, a high-ranking officer said.

The North Jakarta Police officer identified the prostitute as Ratnaningsih of Kampung Baru in Cakung, East Jakarta, and said she was reportedly having a torrid affair with the suspect, Chief Sgt. Sumarno, of the city's military intelligence unit on Jl. Kramat VII, Central Jakarta.

"These Kramat VII guys are the worst. So many cases of theirs are never solved. It was good that Sumarno surrendered to the Cilincing Military subdistrict an hour after the incident," the officer, who asked for anonymity, told The Jakarta Post.

"The Jakarta Military Police will handle this case now."

The officer said a university student named Dharma witnessed Sumarno in a drunken state entering a home in Rawamalang, Semper subdistrict, at about 1:20 a.m. Sumarno was heard screaming and smashing things inside.

"Dharma said there was loud shouting and screaming going on in the house. Then a gunshot was heard. The bullet which seriously injured the woman came from the soldier's FN gun of .22 millimeter caliber," the officer, who could not stop laughing, said.

When asked why he was laughing, he said: "People get jealous over single or married women. But this guy is jealous over a prostitute! He shot her over her everyday work."

"The woman was immediately rushed to Koja Hospital, and then transferred to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital where she is receiving treatment in the hospital's emergency ward."

When reporters checked at the hospital, the woman was not there. She was still at Koja Hospital receiving treatment.

Jakarta Military spokesman Lt. Col. Djazairi Nachrowi said the shooting "was a definite violation of the law".

"Sumarno is being questioned by Jakarta Military Police (Pomdam Jaya) officers. The strictest measures will be taken against him," Nachrowi said, adding that dismissing the officer was a possibility.

"But Pomdam has to investigate the degree of Sumarno's fault first, and then decide."

Haunts for male and female prostitutes across the capital have soared from 30 in March last year to 120 in June this year as people's desperation increases and more Greater Jakarta residents live below the poverty line. (ylt)