P

olice in Papua have increased security measures by sending two special teams to Puncak Jaya regency following the fatal shooting of a teacher in the regency’s Mulia district.

Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw said Tuesday that the special teams would help local police and Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel in Puncak Jaya to hunt down the perpetrators.

“We will hunt down and arrest the perpetrators who committed the barbaric and inhumane act of shooting and killing a teacher who taught children everyday to become smart,” Waterpauw said at Sentani Airport in Jayapura while seeing off the special teams.

Ezra Patatang, 27, who had taught Catholicism for two years at the SDN Kulirik elementary school in Mulia, Puncak Jaya, was shot and killed by unidentified persons in Karubate village, Mulia district on Aug. 12 at around 6:30 p.m. local time.

Aside from having served as a non-permanent teacher at the school, Ezra also drove an ojek motorcycle taxi after teaching. He was also the OMK Catholic Youth leader of the Illaga parish in Mulia.

“That afternoon, he was carrying a passenger from Kota Baru to Kota Lama, where his house is also located. He was then found dead with gunshot wounds,” said Markus Tandiayu, a fellow teacher and deputy chairman of the Toraja Family Association’s Puncak Jaya chapter.

In Mulia, Ezra lived with his sister Resty Patatang who is also a teacher.

“Three months ago, before traveling to Jayapura to teach, I told him to teach the children well and watch the church, and it was the last time I saw my brother,” Resty said when met at Sentani Airport in Jayapura.

She recalled that people in her community welcomed her brother and he was often called by his profession as a teacher rather than by his name.

“But why was he killed like this?” she said.

Ezra had worked as a temporary teacher in Mulia for the past two years.

Markus expressed hope that authorities would soon capture the perpetrators, adding that as an innocent person who served as an assistant teacher, Ezra should not have been killed.

“Ezra served as a teacher to teach children to be able to read and write. He had a noble duty, but shouldn’t have been killed,” he said.

Based on the crime scene investigation, the bullet hit Ezra at point-blank range on his right temple before piercing through to the back of his head. “When the victim was found, he was about 10 meters from his bike. It appeared to be a struggle before he was shot,” said Waterpauw.

Ezra’s body was flown on a small plane from Mulia to Sentani Airport where his body was then flown to Makassar, South Sulawesi, on a Batik Air flight, before finally being brought to his hometown of Masamba in Luwuk regency.

All transportation costs were covered by the Puncak Jaya regency administration. “Transportation costs for the body and for the nine family members who accompanied the body have been covered by the Puncak Jaya regency administration,” said Markus.