Transvestite gets six months jail for theft

JAKARTA (JP): A judge at the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced on Tuesday defendant Amin Buchori, alias Ratna, to six months in jail for stealing Rp 50,000 (US$6.8) from witness R. Bagoes Trihono last December.

"The defendant violated article 363 of the Criminal Code by committing a theft," said presiding judge Musa Simatupang in a hearing at the district court.

The verdict was lighter than the term sought by the prosecutor, who earlier demanded the judge sentence him to one year in jail.

The defendant admitted that he took the initiative by seducing the 20-year-old witness as he was walking alone on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta at 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 3, last year.

The spot, which is located at the edge of National Monument Park and only several meters away from the State Palace, is a popular place for transvestites and prostitutes to offer their services to passersby or motorists.

The defendant said he was attracted to the witness, whom he described him as charming young man.

"I asked him for a cigarette, and then took his hand and led him into the park," Amin said.

"We went to a dark place where I usually mojok (a slang word for committing an intimate act)," he said, causing the spectators and the judges to burst into laughter.

He said he asked the witness to pay only Rp 10,000 for the service, which was approved by the witness.

"The amount was not important as he was such an attractive young man," he said, adding that they had been intimate for half an hour.

"We repeatedly kissed and each other touched parts of our bodies. But when I asked him to take off his pants, he refused," said the defendant.

The witness' rejection prompted the defendant's anger.

"It was okay for me if he did not pay for the service, since he was attractive. But he rejected me," he said.

The defendant then asked the witness to pay Rp 10,000 again, and this time it was also rejected. "I then got his wallet, and took out Rp 50,000," he said.

"We quarreled, but the witness fled the scene, taking his wallet with him," said the defendant.

But, an hour later, the witness returned with several police officers from the nearby Jatibaru Police subprecinct, who then arrested the defendant. (asa)