Three questioned about gang rape and robberies
Three questioned about gang rape and robberies
JAKARTA (JP): Three men are undergoing intensive police
interrogation for their possible roles recently in a number of
robberies and a gang rape in Bekasi, West Java.
The three were taken yesterday to the National Police
headquarters to have their fingerprints and blood test taken
again.
The re-examination of fingerprints and blood tests of the
three men is needed for ascertainment, Jakarta Police Spokesman
Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
"None of them have been named as suspects in the robberies and
gang rape. The investigation is still going on," he said,
refusing to identify them. A source at the Bekasi police precinct
identified them as Nanang, Hamid and Alex.
They were questioned by the local police a few hours after a
series of robberies, one of which involved rape, in two
neighboring villages last Friday.
Police assume that the crimes were committed by at least seven
people.
A group of robbers started their operation in two districts of
Cibarusah and Serang, at about 2 a.m. last Friday. They made off
with a total of Rp 1.4 million cash and 70 grams of gold.
Armed with sharp weapons, the group moved from one target to
another by foot, witnesses said. At each house, half of them were
assigned as lookouts outside.
The robbers' first victim was Asep, worker of a soybean-cake
factory in Kampung Cironjong of Sindangmulya village in
Cibarusah.
Asep, 35, his 27-year-old wife and their 4-year-old daughter
live on the premises of the small factory, which is owned by a
Jakarta businessman.
Before stealing Rp 1.2 million in cash and 35 grams of
jewelry, five of the seven men allegedly raped Asep's wife. Asep
and his daughter were tied up and could only look on helplessly.
The housewife told police after the incident that the first
four men raped her in the bathroom and the other one raped her in
the living room.
From Asep's house, the group then allegedly broke into
Suryono's house located about 200 meters away and reportedly
stole 14 grams of gold.
They then walked to another house owned by Tatang where they
allegedly stole Rp 70,000 and 2.5 grams of gold jewelry, police
said.
Before leaving the area, the group reportedly broke into
Madin's house and left the place with Rp 15,000 and 10 grams of
gold jewelry.
The robbers then walked to the nearby village of Desa
Sukaragam in Serang where they allegedly broke into three houses
where they stole Rp 120,000.
No fatalities were reported in the robberies, but the robbers
wounded one man who attacked them.
Bekasi, which is becoming notorious for robbery and rape, has
many remote villages with houses located quite a distance from
one another. Therefore victims screams go unheard. Street lights
and telephones are a luxury the villagers cannot afford and
because of this robbers target the villages.
The police find it difficult to carry out patrols as there are
only narrow pathways leading into most of the villages.
Deputy Bekasi Police Chief Maj. Yohannes Soewono pledged that
his detectives will arrest the suspected criminals soon because
all of the suspects are repeat offenders in the area. (bsr)