Youth drowns during brawl

Youth drowns during brawl

JAKARTA (JP): A teenager was found dead in the Kali Buntu
river, Kebon Bawang, North Jakarta, after he tried to escape a
brawl with a rival gang in the early hours of Sunday, relatives
said.

The victim, La Dawi, 19, a local ojek sepeda (bicycle taxi),
had also suffered head injuries.

A relative, Iman, 20, said after Dawi finished subuh (morning
prayer) he joined friends to loiter in the area as is common
during the Ramadhan fasting month.

He said a brawl with other local youths often resulted from
misunderstandings and throwing firecrackers at one another.

"The groups arm themselves with machetes and wooden sticks,"
Iman said.

Dawi and his group became involved in a brawl with other
youths.

"He ran to the river and jumped into it to save his life as
the others were chasing him and repeatedly pelting him with
rocks," he said.

The youths looked for him along the riverbank and left after
they failed to find him, he said.

Dawi's body was found later by his friends, who took it to a
nearby hospital.

Another relative, Amran, 35, said Dawi, the third of five
siblings, had to earn money for his family shortly after he
completed junior high school. (07)