Woman arrested for kidnapping cousin

JAKARTA (JP): The Duren Sawit police in East Jakarta have arrested a 19-year-old woman charged with kidnapping her uncle's two-year-old daughter.

First Sergeant Bambang Adi said yesterday that Ella Marsella Siboru was arrested at a prostitution complex in Pulau Sicanang, North Sumatra, on Sunday.

During police questioning, Ella, who lived at her uncle's apartment in Klender, East Jakarta, said she abducted the girl on July 24 and immediately left for North Sumatra by bus.

"She said that she was planning to sell the girl for Rp 100,000 (US$42.50) to the wife of a local police officer in North Sumatra," Bambang said.

Having read in the local media that the girl had been kidnapped, the woman in North Sumatra refused to accept Ella's offer. She then called the Jakarta police about Ella and the little girl, he said. (bsr)