Transsexual's mutilated body found

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta police detectives are questioning four people over the vicious murder of a transsexual, whose wound-ridden corpse was found lying near the Tanjung Barat railway station in Lenteng Agung, Jagakarsa, on Monday morning.

"The murder was probably committed by acquaintances of the transsexual," head of the South Jakarta police detectives, Maj. Rycko Amelza Daniel, said at the crime scene.

The officer added that his men are still investigating the murder of this unidentified victim, whose hands had been cut off.

The four witnesses were identified as Sachrul, 20, an employee of Pasar Minggu railway station, Aji Sumantri, a teenage street singer, Usin, a man who found a plastic packet containing the victim's blood some 50 meters from the crime scene, and Yuli, alias Etty, a transsexual who is head of the South Jakarta Forum of Communication for Transsexuals (FKW).

The hands of the victim are still missing.

When asked to help identify the corpse, Etty said that it looked like "Eko, a transsexual from Depok."

"But I can't say for sure, unless, the ambulance medical staff want to drop by the Rawamangun (East Jakarta) area, so that some of my friends can identify him also," the transsexual told police officers and reporters.

"Besides, I'm now heading for our volleyball tournament in Bulungan (South Jakarta) ... it's the finals, so I can't miss it, unless one of you, police officers, want to come with us to watch the game," he said, looking at the detectives.

The body of the unidentified transsexual was found in the morning by residents living near the busy railway station.

A cream colored sweater covered the upper part of his body, while black pants were attached to the lower part. A wig of very coarse hair lay beside the head.

Found near the body was a handbag filled with, among other things, a hairbrush, two lipsticks, and a packet of peanuts.

Eight stab wounds were found on his back, four others on his abdomen and two fatal ones on his neck.

The body was sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for a post-mortem examination. (ylt/06)