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.