Student dies of stab wounds in a brawl

JAKARTA (JP): A senior high school student was mobbed to death on Jl. Subur in Menteng Atas subdistrict, South Jakarta, early on Sunday morning.

Sixteen-year-old Heri Susanto died at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital after suffering 14 stab wound injuries to his body.

Seven wounds were discovered on his back, while the other seven were on his chest and stomach. The victim also suffered several bruises to his body.

A main witness said the victim, along with 13 of his friends, were due to go home after watching a "street" motorbike race that took place on nearby Jl. Casablanca.

"We went home via Jl. Sahardjo at 2:30 a.m., after we spent a night watching the motorbike race. The victim joined me on my Honda Prima motorcycle," said Miki Widjanarko, the friend and also the cousin of the victim, a resident of Jl. Lontar Ujung in Menteng Atas subdistrict.

As the 14 teenagers, riding on seven motorcycles, entered Jl. Subur after leaving Jl. Sahardjo, they suddenly came across some 60 youths who stopped them.

"The group of youths, believed to have been from nearby Sawo hamlet, asked where we lived," Miki told The Jakarta Post at his house on Jl. Minangkabau in the subdistrict.

There has been longstanding hostility between teenagers and youths from both Jl. Lontar Ujung, often called Gali hamlet, and their opponents who are Jl. Sawo dwellers.

Initially the group of youths gave no response after some of the teenagers answered that they hailed from other areas, including Bukit Duri and Manggarai.

"A teenager pointed a homemade rifle at me and asked me which hamlet I came from. I answered that I hailed from the Minangkabau hamlet, and he looked satisfied," he said.

However, another teenager purportedly said that he hailed from Gali hamlet.

"Heri was trapped into his (the teenager's) game, and later conceded that he also hailed from Gali hamlet," he said.

"Upon recognizing that Heri was from Gali hamlet, the teenager threatened the victim and the violence began," said Miki, a state SMU 43 senior high school student.

Miki said he tried to separate the two groups in order to stop the fighting, but he couldn't.

"Some people in the group forced me and other friends to leave the scene as I saw the victim being stabbed with a machete and hit by stones thrown by the mob.

"As I insisted on staying near the scene, the people shouted at me "set him on fire, set him on fire....," he said, adding that he abruptly fled the scene to join his other friends.

Later, Miki found that the victim, who was still conscious despite his severe injuries, went home riding a bajaj. (tricycle taxi).

"The mob ordered the bajaj driver to send him home," he said.

Rozali, the father of the victim rushed him to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, but he died four hours after arrival at the hospital.

Sumiati, 46, the victim's mother, said she had no idea why his son has become the victim of the violence.

"Heri was a good boy and never involved in any brawls. He just wanted to see the motorbike race with his friends that night," she said in tears at the morgue room of the hospital.

The body of the victim will be buried at the Karang Kobar cemetery in Banjarnegara, Central Java. (asa/07)