T

he Jakarta Police shot dead the alleged rapist of a pedestrian in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, on Friday, after he was reported to have attacked the police with a machete.

Jakarta Police general crimes director Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti explained that the police were forced to shoot the suspect, ITH, 29, on Jl. Wijaya, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, after he tried to attack a police officer with a machete.

'€œThe suspect was killed after two shots to his chests. We were forced to act due to the serious threat that he posed to the safety of the officers,'€ Krishna said.

Krishna added that at the time, the suspect reeked of alcohol and was possibly drunk.

The police had been hunting ITH after reports that he was responsible for the rape of a 23-year-old civil servant candidate, identified as R, on a pedestrian bridge in Lebak Bulus last Saturday.

R said that she was raped on the bridge at around 4.30 p.m. when she was going home from her office in Pondok Indah, Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.

She explained that she was crossing a pedestrian bridge near the Carrefour when a burly man approached her and proceeded to rob and rape her. The suspect then left her and carried off her iPhone 5 and Rp 200,000 (US$14.59) in cash.

Krishna noted that before the hunt, the police had received confirmation of the suspect after the victim was shown his photo.

Krishna further said that the police suspected ITH of having raped other women. However, only R was audacious and brave enough to report the crime to the police.

He said that in Lebak Bulus, the suspect was a notorious thug dreaded by local residents, including vendors near the bridge.

He added that ITH had been previously convicted of assault. The police released him in November
last year.

'€œHe was very dangerous as he not only robbed people but also threatened and raped,'€ Krishna explained, adding that the police had closed the case.

On the same occasion, city police mobile detectives division (resmob) head Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Hadi Santoso explained that before the shooting, the police had chased after the suspect from Slipi,
Central Jakarta.

He said that ITH was driving a motorcycle when they warned him to pull over. However, he resisted the warning and he sped up his motorcycle instead.

A resmob officer then decided to graze his motorcycle against the suspect'€™s vehicle. The suspect became more aggressive and took out a machete and swung it at the officer.

Eko went on to say that another officer was, therefore, forced to shoot the suspect.

Separately, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Mohammad Iqbal said that the police had followed the proper procedures.

He claimed that the police directly shot the suspect'€™s chest, instead of the legs, because ITH could have killed the police officer.

'€œIf we did not immediately take action, the officer would be dead. It was a matter of seconds,'€ Iqbal told The Jakarta Post.

Bambang Widodo Umar, an expert from the University of Indonesia, criticized the police'€™s actions in killing ITH.

'€œThe police are allowed to open fire at a crime suspect with the intention of paralyzing but not killing,'€ he said.

According to Bambang, had the police found the suspect more quickly, they could have received accolades. The shooting, however, might now taint the achievement.

'€œIn fact, the police shot him to death in an imbalanced situation, in which the suspect tried to fight against a number of officers alone,'€ Bambang said. (agn)