Teacher dies as he drafts school test

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A 50-year-old teacher in the West Java capital of Bandung was found dead on Monday with his corpse already partially decomposed at Cikutra elementary school.

The discovery of the Adang Sugiatna's body forced teachers of the school to send home around 350 students there, Antara news agency reported.

Some of the students were deeply shocked after hearing the tragic fate of their teacher, a resident of Jl. Rumah Sakit I in Ujung Berung, Bandung.

The death was suspected to have been caused by heavy stress and fatigue suffered by Adang while preparing the final examination for his sixth-grade students.

Adang's body was first discovered by two of his colleagues, Momo, 45, and Ujang, 35, at 7:30 a.m. face down on his desk.

Traces of blood were found near his mouth and ears, but no official cause of death was reported.

The two teachers became suspicious when they noticed an odor emanating from Adang's office, so they went in to investigate.

"At the time I was fairly certain that Pak Adang had already died. We later called the local police and his family in Ujung Berung to come to the scene," Momo said.

He said two bottles of energy supplement drinks were found beside Adang's body. The victim was believed to have consumed the drinks, which police initially suspected to have exacerbated any other health problems he may have had.

He had reportedly intended to work overtime in his office on Saturday.

According to Momo, as a homeroom teacher and chairman of the school's final examination committee for sixth-grade students, Adang had recently been very busy preparing the tests.

Apart from his teaching activities, Adang, who had been teaching at the school for 29 years, was preparing himself for a graduation examination to get a university degree, and was intending to run for the post of the school's headmaster.

The Central Bandung Police detectives are investigating the death of Adang, who is survived by his wife and three children.

"It is possible that he died after he drank too much of the energy drink and because of his fatigue," local police detective chief Adj. Comr. Wardoli said.