Worker robbed, suffers 3-day coma

JAKARTA: A migrant worker who just arrived from Saudi Arabia was robbed in a hotel on Jl. Buncit Raya, South Jakarta, and was in a drug-induced coma for three days.

Salimin, 42, who worked as a driver in Arabia for 1,200 real (Rp 2.5 million) a month, said two men claiming to be from Blitar and Tulung Agung in East Java approached him upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Friday. Salimin was about to return to his hometown in Kediri, East Java.

The two men asked him to join them to return to East Java by train, but instead they took Salimin and checked in at the Maharani Hotel.

"They offered me jamu (traditional herbal medicine) to drink, so that I could stay fresh. But then I fell unconscious. I think they had mixed something into the jamu," Salimin told reporters after reporting the case to Mampang Police station on Monday.

A bell boy found Salimin unconscious, with his body wedged in the door to room No. 716. He was then rushed to Fatmawati general hospital for treatment.

"They took Rp 5 million (US$610) in cash and important documents in my suitcase," said Salimin.

The police are still investigating the case. -- JP