UMI campus closed after deadly clash
Andi Hajramurni and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Bandung
The administrators of the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) declared a two-day vacation on Tuesday after a student was killed by fellow students on the campus in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
Ikhlas "Dindong" Ismail, a 25-year-old student at the School of Agriculture, was beaten and stabbed to death in the clash on Monday night.
Thousands of students gathered in groups outside the campus as the two entrance gate were locked after UMI rector Nasir Hamzah closed the campus for two days until Thursday.
The closure was to prevent any further violence at the private university.
The incident occurred at about 7 p.m. on Monday, when a group of students chased Ikhsan from the campus to in front of the South Sulawesi governor's office, located around 500 meters from the campus.
Ikhsan was beaten and stabbed by the assailants, believed to be from UMI's Technical School. He died from his injuries at the nearby Ibnu Sina Hospital.
The motive for the violence was not immediately clear, and campus authorities and police are still investigating the incident.
"We don't know what the motive is because no suspects have been arrested yet. We only received a report that the clash involved students from Mapala (a student nature group) and the Technical School," said Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermansyah Saidi, chief of detectives of the East Makassar Police.
Ikhsan was a member of Mapala.
Hermansyah said his office was searching for at least 15 students who fled after the attack.
"Seven of the 15 students are believed to be the key suspects," he said.
UMI deputy rector Lambang Basri Said for student affairs said the university had identified the 15 suspects and submitted their names and addresses to the police.
He said his office has set up a fact-finding team to investigate the incident.
Lambang said the university condemned the violence, which he believed was triggered by a trivial matter but developed into a fatal clash involving students from different organizations.
"We lament the incident. It was caused by a trivial matter. Several students stood in front of gate two and looked at each other and some of them felt offended," he said.
He said the university had handed over the case to the police for investigation.
Anyone found guilty of involvement in the incident will be subject to academic punishment, ranging from suspension to expulsion, he said.
Lambang said he had also asked the local police to patrol the campus until the situation returned to normal.
This was the second fatal incident this month at an institute of higher learning.
On Sept. 2, Wahyu Hidayat, a 20-year-old student at the Public Administration Institute (STPDN) in Sumedang, West Java, died after being beaten by older students.
Nine STPDN students are being held for questioning over the attack.
Police have charged the suspects with violating articles 351, 352 and 170 of the Criminal Code on bullying and premeditated violence.
"With the accumulation of the charges under the three articles, the suspects could face a minimum of five years in jail," Sumedang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yoyok Subagyono said on Tuesday.
The suspects' lawyer, Singap Pandjaitan, filed a request for his clients' release, arguing that their parents were suffering from depression because of the matter. Yoyok turned down the request.
The death of Wahyu sparked widespread criticism of STPDN, which is run by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Some critics have urged the closure of the institute, which has a reputation for military-style discipline.
Many alumnus of the institute have demanded that STPDN administrator Sutrisno resign for failing to prevent violence on the campus.
Last year, another STPDN student died after allegedly being beaten by older students.