Violence takes devastating toll in Greater Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Murders, physical harassment and violence invaded the streets of the capital over the weekend.

City Police recorded four murders on Saturday in Tangerang and North Jakarta -- a three-day-old baby, a suspected thief, a student and a man who tried to break up a fight.

"We try our best to educate the masses... teach them that murder is a great sin. As much as we try to stop people from killing, it just happens," city police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis told reporters.

In Tangerang, the corpse of an unidentified three-day-old baby was found wrapped in cloth inside a carton on a football field at Jati village in Jatiuwung district.

"A lady identified as Suprihatin found the package in the field. She immediately reported the finding to the police," Zainuri said.

Meanwhile, angry residents of Pasir Jaya subdistrict of Jatiuwung mobbed a suspected thief to death, who was trying to escape with Rp 6.6 million (US$787) in cash, at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

City Police identified the suspect as Jamal bin Mansyur, 20, a former employee of the shoe factory PT Supratu Saman, on Jl. Pasir I, Tangerang.

"Jamal used a duplicate key to enter the factory. He unlocked a safe, got the money and was trying to escape when he was caught," Zainuri said.

Jamal suffered bruises and wounds to his whole body, before taking his last breath.

Separately in North Jakarta, the corpse of a student, identified as Dani Iskandar, 19, was found in the Rorotan area, behind the Cilincing Police station.

The student, who lived in the Kandang Sapi village in Cilincing, suffered wounds to his left chest, and a stab wound to the right side of his stomach.

Lastly, a man, identified as Ong Kwi Siang, 39, was murdered, when he tried to stop a fight between two men on a football field of Pejagalan area in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, at about 9 p.m. on Saturday.

"Ong was trying to stop a fight between Mulyana (arrested) and another man. When he got in the way, Mulyana stuck a sickle into his stomach. Ong died on the spot," Zainuri said.

In unrelated developments, police recorded two disturbances involving women in the past week.

Police reported on Friday that a pregnant woman, identified only as Hrd, 29, was put through utter humiliation when subjected to a strip search by security officers of a shopping center in South Jakarta.

The woman, a resident of Bekasi Indah Villa in Tambun, Bekasi, had been browsing for baby clothes and equipment with her two kids at Borobudur Plaza in Blok M, South Jakarta, on Friday.

"I could not find anything nice, so I went to browse for other stuff. I had gone to the Gramedia bookstore in the plaza, when suddenly, some security officers came and stopped me," Hrd said in her police report.

"They told me in front of everybody, that I had taken something. I was taken to a room where I was told to strip completely. They did not find anything on me... how could they do this to me?"

She identified the suspects as Amran and Wati Wijaya, both security officers of the plaza.

Another police report stated that a woman allegedly placed a hot burning knife on the thigh of a female maidservant, identified as Nurhayati, 14, on Tuesday, in an act of revenge.

Nurhayati identified the suspect as Ratna Wulantari, who lives in the Pondok Aren village of Tangerang.

Nurhayati said she had been working at the suspect's home for about five months. On Monday, she had wanted to break open her piggy bank, which was made of plastic.

"So, I heated a knife and tried to pry it apart. Suddenly, Ratna's son, Danang, 5, came over and even after I told him several times, he was bent on getting the knife. His thigh got hurt in the process," Nurhayati said.

"On Tuesday, Ratna, heated a butcher knife, and placed it on my right thigh. I felt what she did was wrong, so I came here (police)." (ylt)