Trisakti student killed in violent campus brawl

JAKARTA (JP): A 22-year-old student was butchered to death in a violent brawl between students of two rival schools of Trisakti University. The incident, which was over a long-time dispute, occurred on the campus grounds in Grogol, West Jakarta, on Tuesday.

At least two other students were injured.

Colleagues identified the dead victim as Muhammad Taufik Lubis, who was in his last year at the mechanical engineering school, and the wounded ones as Salman Arfaiziar and Yudo Arsito, both 19 and students of the department of oil at the university's mineral engineering school.

Taufik was fatally slashed in the left thigh and died at the nearby Sumber Waras Hospital one hour after the incident, which started at about 10 a.m.

Salman suffered a head wound from stone-pelting and Yudo's right thumb was almost severed after being smashed with an iron bar from a rival student group.

No police or university senior staff were seen during the brutal clash between students from the mechanical engineering school and the rival group from the department of oil.

Only a few of the university security guards were seen trying to stop the fighting.

Asiani, of the university's public relations department, was not aware that one of her students was killed in the fight that took place on campus grounds.

"Are you sure that Taufik is dead? All I know is that he's critically wounded," she said.

Later in the evening, her department released a statement confirming Taufik's death, regretting the incident and pledging to thoroughly investigate the case.

The university also decided to temporarily suspend academic activities from Wednesday until Tuesday.

According to West Jakarta Police detective chief Maj. Idham, police have no right to enter any university campus.

"Do you think we have? No," he told The Jakarta Post last night. "But we're still investigating the case."

Even in this case, which he said was not a killing, police had to stay away from the campus area.

"Moreover it was not a killing. It was a brawl, which was followed by attacks, where someone was later wounded and died," the officer said.

Security guard Suhedi speculated that the violent brawl might have been ignited by an incident on the previous night in which some mechanical engineering students set ablaze a prototype model car belonging to the university's school of oil.

"This I think angered the oil students. So, today they burned a room at the mechanical school," Suhedi said.

According to a cleaning service lady at the university, the fights between both schools have been occurring for years and happen at least three times a month.

"They always fight for nothing. But, never before have they used machetes," the lady, who requested anonymity, said.

According to eyewitness Utama of the mechanical engineering school, some 200 students of the department of oil stormed onto their campus at 10 a.m.

"They armed themselves with machetes, sickles and stones and were wearing ski-masks with handkerchiefs over their faces. Some even wore helmets," Utama told reporters on the seventh floor of the building where at least 20 students were hiding, fearing to come out in the open.

"The female students immediately hid in the building's postal- service room and locked themselves inside," he recalled.

Santi, another student of the mechanical engineering school, said the young women, who were hiding at the postal service office on the same floor, had never experienced such fear in their lives.

"First, those oil boys burned a room in our building. Thank God the fire did not spread and only burned the walls of the room. They were running everywhere with machetes ... butcher knives in their hands," Santi said.

"They even broke the windows of the postal-service room. We were terrified."

None of the students from the rival group were willing to give their version.

"Just get out of here. Nothing has happened here ... it's an internal matter," one the students told the Post.

The morgue at Sumber Waras Hospital, where Taufik's body was being kept, was tightly secured by scores of tough-looking students.

Wahyu, a staffer at the university's school of economics, recalled: "I was cleaning the mushollah (Islamic prayer hall) on building E (for economics students), when I looked down, and saw a gang of students with machetes leaving a critically wounded boy on the university grounds."

"Blood was spilling from the boy. I ran down, and tried to help him get up. When I did, blood poured out like running water from his left leg. Thanks to Allah, people at the campus know my face. Otherwise, they could have butchered me too," said 27-year- old Wahyu.

Taufik died of massive blood loss owing to a 10-centimeter deep cut to his left thigh.

"I will never wash this white shirt that I am wearing," said Wahyu, while holding the blood-stained sleeve of his shirt.

Knowing that her son was killed in the clash, Taufik's mother immediately fell down. Her cries and screams were heard all the way from the hospital's emergency ward to the morgue.

Taufik's youngest sister, Neng, cried bitterly and wished to have also died herself. (ylt)