Villagers flee to avoid Purbalingga police raids

Villagers flee to avoid Purbalingga police raids

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Purbalingga

Hundreds of villagers in the Central Java town of Purbalingga have fled their homes and are sheltering in the nearby jungle to avoid sweeps by local police searching for those involved in the burning death of a rape suspect earlier in the month.

Yanto Sutarno, a 22-year-old ex-convict from Siremeng village in the subdistrict of Pulasari in the neighboring Pemalang regency, was slain by a mob in Purbalingga on March 4.

He had been arrested by the Karangreja Police in Purbalingga on charges of raping a 14-year-old junior high school student from Krete village. The victim later died at the hospital from injuries she suffered in the assault.

After word of the attack and arrest spread, about 1,000 residents of Krete stormed the police station and removed Yanto from his cell.

The mob dragged Yanto the four kilometers to Krete village, where they doused him with gasoline and burned him alive.

The police have detained 43 suspects in the mob killing and are conducting sweeps in Krete to locate dozens of more suspects.

To avoid being caught up in the sweeps and arrested, hundreds of residents, including women and children, from the neighboring Siwarak village in Karangrejo have fled into the jungle.

They have erected tents and have been living in the jungle for about a week, saying they were traumatized by violent police raids on their neighbors.

These people have denied any involvement in the slaying of the rape suspect but refuse to return home, despite a visit to their camp by Purbalingga Deputy Regent Soetarto Rachmat on Sunday to appeal to them to go back to their homes.

Purbalingga Police deputy chief Comr. Was'an Tjitro Kumolo said his officers would continue to look for more suspects in the mob killing.

There has been a rise in mob justice in Central Java over the last several years.

Since 2000, at least 20 people have been burned alive for stealing chickens or electronic goods in Banyumas and Purbalingga.