TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Police arrest man, but yet to name him rape, murder suspect
The Jakarta Police apprehended a man on Tuesday, identified as Asmani alias Pelor, 48, for allegedly raping and murdering 9-year-old Putri Nur Fauziah after plainclothes officers heard the man mumbling about murder
Change Size
T
he Jakarta Police apprehended a man on Tuesday, identified as Asmani alias Pelor, 48, for allegedly raping and murdering 9-year-old Putri Nur Fauziah after plainclothes officers heard the man mumbling about murder.
Asmani is Putri's parents neighbor and, according to residents, is mentally disturbed. Local residents said he often just sits around near the cemetery and talks to himself.
The arrest involved a chase that attracted a crowd of hundreds of local residents, who could not contain their laughter when they saw it was Asmani who has been arrested.
The police have yet to name Asmani a suspect and the locals said they did not believe that Asmani was the rapist and killer.
A resident, Atun, saw the police taking Pelor from his house. According to Atun, the police arrested him because he often talked about things related to Putri's murder as if he were the killer.
'He has a mental disorder. He often talks about things he actually did not do,' Atun added.
Last week Putri's body was found in a cardboard box in an illegal dump near her house in Kalideres. A forensics examination found that she had been murdered and raped. Traces of semen were found in her genitalia.
The case attracted public attention and on Tuesday several public figures visited Putri's school, state elementary school SDN 05 Pagi in Kalideres, West Jakarta.
Prominent children's rights activist Seto Mulyadi said he had visited the school to gather information from Putri's classmates.
'I introduced myself to the children, then we played some games together,' said Seto, who is better known as Kak Seto. He refused to go into detail about the information he was looking for and whether he had obtained it.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan and Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) secretary general Erlinda also visited the school with Seto.
Anton said the school visit was important to the investigation because Putri's closest friends and her cousin, KT, were expected to provide insight into what happened last Thursday.
KT said that after school on the day of the murder he and Putri had been playing chase but he had lost track of her in an alleyway because Putri ran too fast.
Erlinda said Seto's approach with the children had managed to divulge some information that might be useful in the investigation.
After visiting the school, Erlinda, Anton, Seto and other staffers also went to the victim's house to provide psychological support to Putri's mother, identified as IF.
Anton said that she was suffering from stress and had been refusing to eat, and therefore needed both physical and psychological assistance.
He added that aside from IF, Putri's older sister A, was also suffering from deep shock.
Seto said that children were susceptible to sexual abuse committed by close relations, such as family or parents' colleagues and adults who appeared to be very kind to them.
According to him, these two types of people easily manage to convince children to follow them, and thus could easily take advantage of them.
'Parents must be careful to people who are acting too kind and generous toward their children. Don't trust them so easily,' said Seto.
He added that to prevent similar cases, all stakeholders, such as parents and administrations, had to work together to establish a child protection unit in each neighborhood to support child protection organizations and the police in protecting children.
Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama has rejected Seto's idea. (agn)
