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span class="inline inline-left">Ahmad Yoga Fudholi, was not known as an aggressive individual. In fact, his friends fondly remember him as a shy person.

“I never thought his life would end tragically,” said one of Yoga’s friends during the funeral of the informatics engineering student at Al-Azhar University.

Yoga lost his life on Tuesday, allegedly at the hands of two senior students, identified only as D.R., 22, and E.Z., 24. The assailants are thought to have beat Yoga to death on the campus soccer field after he had taken the wrong helmet for his motorbike. Yoga’s attackers allegedly accused him of stealing the head gear.

The 19-year-old died a day after Christopher Melky Tanujaya, a 16-year-old, easy-going former math olympics champion, was stabbed to death after exiting a TransJakarta busway station in Pluit, North Jakarta, on Monday.

In August, Livia Pavita Soelistio, a student at Bina Nusantara University, was found dead in Cisauk, Tangerang, after she was raped in a public minivan.

In March, Amanda Dewi Setiawan, a student at IPEKA International Christian High School, died on her birthday after residents had found her unconscious with stab wounds to her stomach in Taman Meruya Ilir, West Jakarta.

The victims of these crimes died in circumstances that experts have deemed as indications Jakarta that had turned into a lawless society where violent means were chosen to resolve conflict.

“It’s a jungle out there, where the strongest, or those with the deadliest weapons, win,” University of Indonesia sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Thamrin said that the public resorted to street justice simply because the authorities had failed to enforce the law.

“If you are a victim of a crime on the streets, you can’t depend on the police anymore, because it’s a jungle in there too,” he said.

Crime expert from University of Indonesia Erlangga Masdiana said that Jakarta had turned into a dangerous place, with people who habored criminal intent becoming more aggressive.

“Today, they shoot first and ask questions later,” Erlangga told the Post.

Erlangga attributed this increased aggression to the failure of education.

“Parents and teachers are too busy making ends meet and they neglect their children’s education,” he said.

He said that a lack of education had led to people losing their social skills. “We need to improve our social education at home, at school and on television,” he said.

Many city residents have experienced first-hand how dangerous Jakarta can be.

“I went to Tanah Abang market [in Central Jakarta] the other day and I had my handbag ripped from side to side by three young thugs. It just happened so fast. Luckily, nothing was lost and I am still alive,” said Rosy Soedomo, a housewife living in Pesanggrahan, South Jakarta.

Rosy said that she often lost her sense of security when traveling in downtown Jakarta.

“Jakarta has never been 100 percent safe nor comfortable,” she said.

“Now I fear using public transportation or going to bus terminals and wet markets,” she said.

Anandia Yuda, a civil servant living in Karet, South Jakarta, said that Jakarta was now showing symptoms of turning into a “sick society”.

“I won’t deny the fact that the city can be very, very stressful and that it’s quite difficult to find a relaxed atmosphere here,” she said. (mim)