Tanah Tinggi brawl claims two lives

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)