Young man murders six relatives in Medan

JAKARTA (JP): A 17-year-old grounded from leaving the family home over his erratic behavior bludgeoned his parents and four of his siblings to death with a hammer in Medan, press reports said Saturday.

M. Fahrizal Batubara allegedly killed his father Dr. Arsyad Batubara, 60, mother Delfiraina Siregar, 47, elder brother Ganhaled, 19, and elder sisters Fitrisna, 28, Vini Quita, 23, and Vidi Tinti, 22, in the North Sumatran capital on Friday morning.

His family's youngest child, Fahrizal was reportedly despondent after he was reprimanded by his parents and grounded. Another sister was away from home when the murders occurred.

"The police were informed of the mass murder by two friends of Fahrizal at 9:30 p.m. on Friday," chief of the Medan Police's Unit of Detectives, Maj. H.M. Yunan, was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday.

Fahrizal reportedly telephoned the friends at about 5 p.m. on Friday to tell them he was hosting a party. When they arrived, the friends found three bodies in the living room.

Fahrizal asked them to help bury the bodies in a room in which had dug up the floor. The friends fled after telling him to wash his bloodied clothes first.

His girlfriend, Popy, told police that Fahrizal visited her at about 9:30 p.m. on Friday and confessed to the killings.

The third-year student of private G.B. Yoshua High School was arrested at 2 a.m. on Saturday.

Fahrizal told police investigators he killed his relatives by striking them over the head with a hammer.

He recounted he killed Fitrisna first as she watched television and then attacked Ganhaled, a medical student. He killed his mother when she came out of the kitchen to check on the commotion.

Fahrizal murdered his father when he returned from Moslem Friday prayers at the mosque. Vini and Vidi were the last to die. (imn)