Women commit suicide at X-mas

JAKARTA (JP): Two women were found dead after they apparently committed suicide in two separate incidents on Christmas Day.

One of the victims, Suherni, 21, of Jl. Semeru Raya in Grogol, West Jakarta was found dead with an empty glass and a can of insecticide beside her. She was found at her boyfriend's aunt's house in Kampung Gedong, Pasar Rebo in East Jakarta about 12:30 p.m.

Her body was sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Nurhadi, the victim's father, said Suherni had left home four days before the incident.

He said he had never met Suherni's boyfriend but had heard recently that the man had broken up with his daughter.

"I don't know him as she never introduced me to him and for me it's not important now."

Second Lt. Budi Santoso of Pasar Rebo Police subprecinct said that the victim's family refused to give permission for an autopsy.

The other victim was Yayah, alias Iyah, a 17-year-old maid who worked for a Chinese family in Kebon Baru, Tebet in South Jakarta.

She apparently hanged herself with a plastic rope inside a store room at her employer's house.

One of her close friends, Yusup bin Khairudin, who was occasionally hired by the family to cut grass and tend to the gardens, said that Iyah told him that her employers allegedly scolded her frequently over her work.

"In desperation she may have hastily decided to commit suicide," he said. (04)