Teen undergoes surgery months after cop shooting

JAKARTA: Fifteen-year-old Muhammad Rifki underwent surgery Tuesday to remove shrapnel from his right leg after being shot by police in an attempted arrest three months ago.

Rifki, currently in detention, had his surgery at the Soekanto Police Hospital in East Jakarta.

“He’s fine, just a little weak after the surgery,” said the boy’s uncle, Zulkifli, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

A police officer from the Koja precinct office in North Jakarta shot the boy shortly after he had been handed a five-month jail sentence.

No clarification on the shooting has been given, but police have called the incident a “procedure irregularity”.

“We didn’t even know he’d been arrested by the police,” Zulkifli said.

“We only found out 15 days ago.”

He added the family was disappointed with what they said was the police’s ill-treatment of Rifki.

Since being sentenced, Rifki has been held by Koja Police.

Zulkifli said the family was now considering suing the police for excessive use of force.