Student slays schoolmate in Banjarmasin

Student slays schoolmate in Banjarmasin

Umi Sriwahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan

The educational community in South Kalimantan were shocked by a
tragic incident on Wednesday when a student murdered a schoolmate
from the same senior high school in the provincial capital here.

Syarif Rahman, an 18-year-old student from the SMU 10 state
senior high school, was found dead in the school's toilet with
multiple stab wounds.

The second grade student was allegedly killed by 16-year-old
Ariannoor, a first grader.

The murder took place during the first break of the day. It
was not clear whether the two students had made an appointment to
meet for a fight in the toilet during class hours.

Witnesses, including students, said they suddenly saw the
suspect, Ariannoor, walking out of the bathroom with blood
spattered on his school uniform.

This stirred a fracas among the school students. Hysteria then
flared up after a female student discovered the wounded Syarif's
inside the toilet.

In an effort to save his life, Syarif was rushed to a nearby
hospital but was dead on arrival.

There were no eye witnesses to the fight between Ariannoor and
Syarif. Nor was it clear what motivated the killing.

After killing Syarif, Ariannoor reportedly escaped on a small
motorized boat on a nearby river. Local police are still hunting
him.

Headmaster Zainuddin regretted the killing, saying it should
not have happened as the school was known for its discipline.

He said he was not at the school when the deadly fight
occurred,

"We can't believe Ariannoor could commit murder. He is a quiet
student who only recently enrolled in this school," Zainuddin
told journalists.

Ariannoor's schoolmates echoed Zainuddin's statement, saying
the suspect was a nondescript character.

Cases of student deaths are quite common as the result of
brawls, which often taken place in major cities across the
country.