Spiker stabbed after winning match

JAKARTA (JP): Players from a rival team allegedly stabbed to death a 25-year-old man after a volleyball match Sunday in Bekasi, the victim's brother claimed.

Forensic doctors at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta said that the victim, Basiran, bled to death from two stab wounds in his thigh and abdomen.

His brother, Eddy, said Basiran arrived here from Bengkulu in Southern Sumatra about a week ago to look for a job.

Eddy said at least four men attacked his brother after Basiran led the Tugu Asri housing complex's volleyball team to a win Sunday evening against the Lemah Abang team.

"He likes volleyball and he's good at it, that's why he agreed to join our housing complex's team," Eddy, who claims he watched the match and saw the stabbing, said.

He is convinced that the rival team suspected that Basiran was a professional player hired by Tugu Asri.

"They were so angry at my brother because of his ability."

When the game finished, four young men stopped Basiran and challenged him to fight, he said. But Basiran refused.

Eddy said that one of the men had a knife and warned off Basiran's friends.

"We tried to calm them down but we were outnumbered. In the middle of negotiations, one of them hit Basiran in the face."

He said the stabbing happened so quickly that Basiran was on the ground before anyone realized what was happening.

"I only saw my brother fall down with blood pouring out of his stomach."

Eddy and his friends allege that the attackers were some of the Lemah Abang team's players.

They reported the stabbing to local police who arrested two suspects, he said.

Eddy plans to take his brother's corpse to Bengkulu, where their parents live, for burial. (04)