A

nother motorcycle thief has met a tragic end at the hands of angry locals in Bekasi, West Java. The mob violence was triggered when the man, Nurhadi, was trying to steal a motorcycle in Pondok Gede, Bekasi, on Friday morning.

On Monday, a similar incident took place in Bekasi, where another motorcycle thief was also beaten to death after he was caught trying to steal a motorcycle.

According to Bekasi City Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Siswo, Nurhadi, who was walking to the market, intended to steal a Honda Beat motorcycle belonging to Winata on Jl. Bojong Rawa Lele. However, Winata saw Nurhadi before he could escape with the vehicle.

'€œHearing his motorcycle'€™s engine being turned on, the owner [Winata] immediately went to where he had parked it. He discovered that someone was trying to take it away. Winata then immediately attacked Nurhadi to make sure that he did not get away with it,'€ Siswo told reporters on Friday.

Nurhadi panicked, Siswo said, and Winata shouted causing the people around the scene to come in droves and chase Nurhadi. The angry mob eventually caught and immediately beat him.

After the police arrived on the scene, they took the severely injured Nurhadi to Pondok Gede Police precinct in Bekasi. However, Siswo explained, his injuries had been so severe that the police had decided to take him to Kramat Jati police hospital in East Jakarta. Nurhadi had died on the way there, he said.

'€œThe policemen who arrived at the scene saw the thief had severe head injuries and injuries to other parts of his body. Unfortunately, he died on the way to the hospital at around 5 a.m.,'€ he said.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto told The Jakarta Post that in such a situation, the people involved in the killing would be immediately investigated.

However, in the case of Monday'€™s death, Bekasi Regency Police spokesman First. Insp. Makmur told reporters that the police would not investigate his death unless a family member objected. He also said the case would not be investigated because there were too many people involved in the beating.

University of Indonesia (UI) criminologist Erlangga Masdiana explained recently that in most cases the police were reluctant to act against the masses. '€œThey think it is difficult to investigate a crime where there is collective responsibility,'€ he said.

Erlangga said that most people involved in such violence did not intend to kill the criminal. If the criminal died, however, the mob was often comforted by the fact that the criminal had been immediately punished instead of there being a long legal process.

A member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), Neng Dara Affiah, also suggested that the mob mentality was influenced by unresolved problems in the past '€” such as the 1998 riots '€” and public distrust of leaders. (fss)