Suicide suspected in Pakistani's death

JAKARTA (JP): A Pakistani national was found hanging by a plastic rope and a shawl in his residence on Jl. Cempaka Putih Timur in Central Jakarta early yesterday.

A relative who asked to remain anonymous identified the man as Muhammad Javaid, 37, a trader of Moslem apparel at the Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta.

He said Javaid's Indonesian wife, Yani, found him dead on the staircase as she prepared for the predawn prayer at about 5:30 a.m. His body was slumped in a squatting position.

Police officers from the Cempaka Putih police subprecinct were called to the house, he added, and conducted a reconstruction of the man's death.

"Police said Javaid committed suicide by hanging himself. He was not murdered," he said.

Javaid and Yani met at a hospital in Pakistan when the latter was working as a nurse, the relative said.

They subsequently married here and had two children.

"On Saturday evening, Javaid went fishing with his Indonesian relatives. There were no signs that he was depressed," he said.

Javaid's parents in Pakistan had been informed of his death, and they requested his body be kept temporarily at a local hospital, he added.

His body was sent to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Hospital forensic expert Abdul Mun'im Idries confirmed yesterday that Javaid hanged himself, indicated by the noose marks on his neck and burst blood vessels in both his eyes.

"His face was darker than the other parts of his body and his lips had turned blue, indicating that he suffocated as the rope knotted around his neck."

Scratches found on both of the man's thighs were consistent with convulsions suffered during a hanging, he added. (09)