Boy returns home after three-day abduction

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 05/08/2008 11:03 AM  |  City

A 13-year-old boy, William, returned home safely Wednesday when his kidnappers failed to extort a ransom after detaining him for three days.

His mother, Jumini, said when her son was kidnapped Monday night she received calls from a man, demanding Rp 30 million (US$3,260) for her son's safe return.

The kidnapper, who called from the boy's mobile phone, later raised the ransom to Rp 100 million and told her to transfer the money to his bank account.

A relative of Jumini's reported the case to the police soon after the calls.

"I kept telling the kidnaper I didn't have that much money and needed time to get the ransom from my relatives. They thought we were a rich family," Jumini, a shoe store attendant in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, said at city police headquarters Wednesday.

On Monday, she managed to persuade the kidnappers, of which there were four, to accept the ransom in cash because she could only withdraw Rp 10 million a day with her ATM card.

Jumini agreed to give the ransom to the kidnappers in front of an ATM booth in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. Undercover police accompanied her to the meeting place.

The kidnapper collecting the money canceled the meeting by sending an SMS to Jumini, saying he knew she had contacted the police.

Jumini and some of her relatives spent two nights at the headquarters, but was not contacted by the kidnappers.

To their surprise, William arrived home Wednesday at 3 a.m. by taxi.

"I was at home when he returned. I was relieved to see him," said Ali, William's father.

William, a seventh grader at Kanaan Junior High School in Central Jakarta, said he did not know he had been kidnapped.

"I am all right. I didn't feel like I'd been kidnapped because they treated me well," he said.

William said a man patted his shoulder while he was walking and using his cell phone in front of a music store in Pasar Baru on Sunday at 6 p.m.

The boy had just visited his mother's work place.

"I thought the man was going to hypnotize me, so I got ready to punch him in the stomach. He told me he was a police officer who would question me because my face looked like a boy who had hit his boss's child," he said.

The boy said two other men joined the stranger and asked him to go somewhere to meet their boss. He agreed to get in a car with them.

William said the three men took him to a rice field where another man was waiting for them. One of them told William they would receive Rp 12 million soon and would give him Rp 200,000.

"I slept on a pile of cardboard boxes for two nights outside in the rice field.

"They asked me to talk about my parents, my family and my school. One of them even taught me a martial art," William said, smiling.

He said on the first night, one of the kidnappers asked him to pretend to cry and tell his mother he wanted to go home. The following day, he was tired of waiting "for their boss" and told them he missed his mother and wanted to meet her.

"They told me their boss was still abroad and I didn't need to wait for him anymore. They also said I could meet my mom soon," he said.

William said they woke him up Wednesday and stopped a taxi for him. When he asked them to return his mobile phone, one of them said they would send it to his house.

"They also asked me to pay for the taxi myself and promised to return my money when they saw me again," he said.

William said the experience taught him not to trust strangers so easily.

The city's criminal division chief, Sr. Comr. Carlo Tewu, said in most recent abduction cases, kidnappers demanded money.

"They just pick their victims up on the street without further consideration," he said.

He said women and children were still the most common victims, although men and college students were also victims in some cases this year.

William's kidnapping is the 14th reported abduction case in the city this year, 11 of which involved money, according to police and media reports. (ind)

A  |   A  |   A  |    |   |    |    |    |  

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.