Villages tense after boy's murder
Villages tense after boy's murder
JAKARTA (JP): Tension gripped neighbors in a Bekasi village
yesterday following Sunday night's murder of a 15-year-old boy,
police said.
Fighting broke out yesterday between dozens of residents from
Babelan and Perumahan Harapan, a housing complex inside the
village, just hours after relatives of the deceased teenager
damaged and then set fire to a house in Babelan.
"The feuding residents pelted each other with rocks and bricks
before police intervened," Bekasi Police chief Lt. Col. Adjie
Rustam said.
The intervillage brawl was triggered by the fatal beating of
Nikmatulloh, a junior high school student of Perumahan Harapan,
about 2 a.m. Sunday.
He was killed by a mob of Babelan residents on night patrol
who mistook him for a thief. Residential night watch was
organized throughout the greater Jakarta area following recent
riots that saw widespread looting and burning of property.
Adjie told The Jakarta Post yesterday that police had captured
two men, Sug, 30, and Suk, 40, for their alleged involvement in
the boy's murder.
"We already have an idea of who the other suspects are."
A resident, Saliman, 40, said Nikmatulloh was walking alone
through Babelan to Perumahan Harapan when the group on patrol
yelled at him to stop and identify himself. He ran away only to
be captured and beaten despite repeated pleas for mercy.
Nikmatulloh died on the way to hospital from multiple stab
wounds.
Adjie said about six hours after the incident, a group of
Babelan and Perumahan Harapan residents, apparently friends and
relatives of the victim, came to the house of Sug and Suk.
"They were angry and wanted revenge. Some of the relatives
said Nikmatulloh was the son of a wealthy family and they felt
insulted by the incident," Adjie said.
About 8 p.m. Sunday, the group burned down the suspects' house
on Jl. Babelan, Bekasi. Firefighters who arrived with three fire
engines extinguished the blaze about 11:30 p.m.
"We hope we will be able to end the enmity very soon," Adjie
said. (edt)