Suspect dies after alleged brutality

JAKARTA (JP): A 22-year-old man died on Tuesday due to internal bleeding from injuries his mother alleged were caused by beatings received during a police interrogation.

Nazarudin form Perumnas II, South Bekasi, was arrested last Thursday for allegedly stealing a tape measure used by workers at the Public Works Ministry.

A witness said that Nazarudin denied that he stole the tape measure which he had given back to the workers at the ministry. But he was beaten by them before they handed him over to the police for questioning.

Endang, the head worker, assured the victim's mother that Nazarudin was not fatally injured by the beatings, but results of x-rays performed by the UKI hospital, where the victim died, showed that his spleen was bleeding.

The victim's mother, Mrs. Iskandar, told reporters on Tuesday that her son had told her how he had been mistreated by the police during the interrogation.

"He lost consciousness and could hardly breathe when he recovered," Iskandar said at the morgue. "There were bruises on my son's forehead and stomach," she said, adding that she was considering suing the police for brutality.

A police officer at the Bekasi precinct admitted that Nazarudin had indeed been beaten during the questioning, but he declined to elaborate. (01)