Three teenagers arrested on murder charge

Three teenagers arrested on murder charge

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested three of the four teenagers
suspected of beating and stabbing to death a friend at an
amusement center in East Jakarta on Monday.

The three are identified as Arnold, 13, a primary school
student, Rendy, also 13, a primary school drop-out, and his
brother, Ujang, 17, a senior high school student, City Police
Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said yesterday.

The other suspect, identified as Yossy, is still at large.

Based on eyewitness accounts and police investigations, Rendy
is believed to have fatally stabbed Muchammad Lutfiansyah, 20, a
senior high school graduate, after the victim asked his friend
not to give Rendy any money, Iman said.

"Rendy, together with three other suspects, beat the helpless
victim," the spokesman said.

Head of the East Jakarta police detectives, Maj. Endang
Sunjaya, said that Arnold and Rendy were arrested several hours
after the bloody incident at a pinball amusement center close to
the Kampung Melayu bus terminal.

"Ujang was apprehended today," Endang told The Jakarta Post
yesterday.

The victim was reportedly playing at the amusement center at
around 2 p.m. with his friend, Raden Sutrisna, 22, when a teenage
boy, later identified as Rendy, came in and asked them for money.

"When the little boy came over to me, Lutfiansyah reminded me
not to give him any," Sutrisna said in his testimony.

According to Sutrisna, Rendy then turned away but came back to
the site, this time along with his three other accomplices,
including his brother, Ujang.

"The group then immediately came to Lutfiansyah and beaten him
with the amusement center's chairs," Sutrisna said.

During the fight, spokesman Iman said, Rendy stabbed
Lutfiansyah in the stomach before leaving the scene together with
his friends.

Sutrisna rushed his dying friend to the nearby Mitra Keluarga
hospital, where Lutfiansyah died a few hours later.

The local police who arrived at the site minutes after
receiving the report arrested Arnold, who was still playing in
the amusement center.

Based on Arnold's statement, the other two were then
apprehended, Iman said.

Rendy's knife has also been seized as an evidence.

According to Endang, the parents of the last suspect, Yossy,
had earlier promised to give their son up to the police yesterday
afternoon.

"It seems that his parents failed to keep their word," Endang
said. Yossy's house was later found to be empty.

Spokesman Imam said that the teenage suspects, if found
guilty, will face a maximum jail term of 12 years.

Thousands of amusement centers in and around the city have
been used by teenagers and uniformed students as meeting places
during and after school hours.

A city regulation prohibits teenagers and uniformed students
entering such places. According to the regulation, the owners can
be punished if teenagers and uniformed students are found inside.
But the enforcement of the regulation has been sporadic thus far.
(bsr/04)