Tanah Tinggi brawl claims two lives

JAKARTA (JP): Two men were killed in a clash between two groups of residents in Tanah Tinggi subdistrict in Johar Baru, Central Jakarta, that began on Friday night.

The first victim, identified as Bodong alias Mistab, 20, was stabbed to death in the clash between residents of RW 03 and RW O4 neighborhoods, according to one witness.

The second victim was identified as Tuju alias Sahrir. He was beaten to death at his house by Bodong's friends on Saturday morning.

Sabar, the witness, said the clash was sparked by a fight between children from the two communities at 9 p.m. on Friday.

"But the adults from the two areas were later provoked and became involved in the fight as well," Sabar said.

He said roofs of several houses in the areas were damaged as the residents threw stones at each other.

He said the fight between the two groups spread from small alleys to the nearby Jl. Suprapto where Bodong was stabbed in the back.

Bodong, a resident of RW 03, was rushed to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital to get medical treatment, but he died early on Saturday morning.

Dozens of police officers and soldiers deployed to the area took two hours to disperse the mobs.

However, dozens of residents of RW 03, who were angry after hearing that Bodong had died, went to the house of Tuju at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

They accused Tuju, a resident of RW 02, of helping residents of RW 04 in the previous night's clash.

Tuju was about to escape through a second-floor window of his house when the angry residents attacked him.

He fell to the ground and the attackers stabbed him to death. They then ran away on seeing that the victim had died.

Another witness, named Habib, said the never-ending dispute between the two groups started after the completion of a nearby low-cost apartment on RW 03 was completed in 1992.

"But the brawl did not involve residents of the apartment. It was clash between people living outside the apartment," he said.

He said police officers visited the residents' houses on Saturday but did not arrest anyone.

"All the residents said they knew nothing about what happened," he said.

Last week, a similar brawl occurred in the area involving the same groups. No fatalities were reported.

In an unrelated development, two warring neighborhoods in Manggarai district were involved in a clash on Friday after a teenager was killed during a brawl.

The death of the victim, identified as 13-year-old Tarmudji of Kebon Sayur in Tebet, raised the death toll of residents killed in clashes in the vicinity to four this year.

A junior high school student, Tarmudji was found dead with a massive wound in his chest.

Police suspect he was killed with a metal arrow.

Friday's brawl involved at least 200 residents from the two feuding groups of the RW 02 and RW 03 neighborhoods. They were armed with stones, wooden bars and arrows.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang told reporters that the brawl erupted at about 2 a.m., and there was nothing serious behind it.

"It is unclear what sparked the brawl but when the police got there, residents were already pelting each other with stones," Aritonang said. (emf/jun)