Three men go on trial for rape and murder of young woman

JAKARTA (JP): A witness testified on Wednesday that the last time he saw his girlfriend alive was on May 7, two days before the body of 24-year-old Daisy Mustiko was found in a room at Wisma Kos Super Ambassador on Jl. Pedurenan Mesjid in Setiabudhi area, South Jakarta.

Daisy's boyfriend, Aron Kusnadi, 22, told the South Jakarta District Court that on May 7, a Sunday, the couple attended services at Theresia Church. Aron later took her to a movie.

"She asked if we could meet on Monday. I told her I was busy and that we would meet on Tuesday," Aron said at the hearing, presided over by Judge Purwono.

"On Tuesday, I wanted to confirm our date and tried to call her at work. The answering machine picked up. I tried her cell phone, but it was dead."

Aron was the first of 10 witnesses testifying against defendants Rusdiyanto, 24, and Sutarman, 23, both tailors who worked at a garment factory near Daisy's boarding house, and Dadang Hidayat, 18, a cleaning service boy at the boarding house.

Prosecutor Hari Mulyadi earlier charged them under Article 339 of the Criminal Code on murder.

The Article carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

On May 8, the defendants struck Daisy on the head with a hammer, then raped her. After the rape, defendant Rusdiyanto banged her head on the floor to shut her up for good.

The subsidiary charge of rape under Article 285 carries a maximum punishment of 12 years imprisonment.

In earlier testimony to police detectives, Aron said that at about 8 p.m. on May 9, he went to Daisy's room and knocked. When there was no answer, he got security guard Denny to open her room with a spare key.

"The room was in a shambles. The bed was fine, but the blanket had been pulled to the floor. Her cell phone was missing. Her car, a white Suzuki Katana, was still parked on the premises," Aron said.

Earlier, Dadang told reporters that a day before the incident, the three defendants had watched a pornographic movie which showed some violent sexual acts.

The next morning, Sutarman told Dadang that he found Monique, Daisy's friend, pretty, and Dadang told Sutarman and Rusdiyanto that he had no problem getting into Daisy's room, Dadang said.

"We saw Daisy parking her car ... and we were sure that her boyfriend (Aron Kusnadi) was not around," he said.

"With a water hose and a hammer in hand, I brought Sutarman and Rusdiyanto up with me to her room. I knocked on the door."

Daisy opened the door and Dadang told her that he wanted to fix the wash basin in her bathroom.

While heading toward the bathroom, he suddenly turned and grabbed her legs and one of the other men grabbed and covered her mouth.

"She fought us really hard. She was scratching ... so I hit her mouth with the hammer. She fell ... I was the first to rape her, then Tarman, then Rus," Dadang said.

When Sutarman and Rusdiyanto raped her, Daisy was trying to fight them off, as evident from scratch marks found on their torsos, and a deep scratch on Rusdiyanto's neck.

After the rape, Rusdiyanto grabbed her hair and bashed her head on the floor.

Even as Dadang insisted that Daisy died from Rusdiyanto's actions, a police source said that the victim had not died then. (ylt)