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)