Violent mob burn 'rapist' alive in horror attack

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Purbalingga

Hundreds of residents of Siremeng village in Purbalingga, Central Java, stormed the local police station on Thursday night, removing the alleged rapist of a teenage girl from his cell and executing him.

The incident began when the 13-year-old rape victim, identified by the initials RH, told her parents on Wednesday that Yanto, 22, a resident of the village, had raped her in a cemetery.

News of the alleged rape spread quickly through the village, and enraged residents gathered outside the police station, demanding that they be allowed to take the law into their own hands.

Local police chief Sr. Comr. Nata Kesuma confirmed the incident on Friday, saying the alleged rape took place on Wednesday and the mob killing of Yanto occurred on Thursday night.

According to Nata, Yanto lured the victim to a quiet cemetery when she was walking home from school.

"There (at the cemetery) he raped RH," the officer said.

The victim, a junior high school student, returned home and told her parents she had been raped. Her parents then went to the nearby police station in Karangreja, and officers quickly arrested Yanto.

But when news of the alleged rape reached the victim's neighbors, hundreds of people gathered outside the police station and demanded that officers turn over the suspect to them.

When the officers refused, a clash ensued and the residents stormed the station and removed Yanto from his cell. The mob beat the suspect and burned him alive in an open area near the police station.

Karangreja Police chief Second Insp. Mugiono said on Friday officers had arrested at least 43 people for their part in the mob violence.