J

akarta Police said Sunday they were still investigating the rape and murder of 9-year-old Putri Nur Fauziah, saying that it was likely that more than one perpetrator had been involved in the brutal crime.

Jakarta Police criminal detective director Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti said that sperm stains had been found after an autopsy was carried out by the National Police Hospital, confirming that Putri was raped before she was murdered on Friday at noon.

'€œWe found bruises from blunt objects on the victim'€™s neck and mouth,'€ Krishna told reporters, adding that the estimated time of death was between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m., or between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Khrisna said the autopsy report also showed that the victim sustained severe injuries to some of her body parts, which indicated that she had been raped and abused by more than one person.

On Friday evening, a Kalideres resident in West Jakarta was shocked to discover the girl'€™s body wrapped in instant noodle cardboard at a garbage dump. Later, the police identified the victim as Putri. Putri'€™s parents live about three kilometers from the crime scene.

She was found wearing a white undershirt with her mouth gagged by underwear and both of her hands duct-taped. According to the police, before she went missing, the victim told her schoolmates at the state-run SDN 05 Pagi Kalideres elementary school that she would meet a friend after school.

Khrisna said that because of the sexual assault bruises on the victim'€™s body, the police believed the murderers to be pedophiles, but emphasized that this should be proven through a psychiatric examination after the suspects had been arrested.

'€œI cannot give you the details because it was very violent. We found serious bruises and footwear marks on her body,'€ he said, adding that he suspected the perpetrators had stomped on her in order to fit the second grade elementary school girl'€™s body into the tiny box.

Kalideres Police criminal unit head Adj. Comr. Khoiri said that the cloth gag in her mouth was suspected to have been the main cause of death. He said police had yet to identify the murderers, but suggested that they had strong leads that the perpetrators were people who were close to the victim'€™s family.

'€œWe are considering the possibility that this crime was committed by people who were familiar with the victim,'€ he said.

Khoiri went on to say that the cardboard, duct tape, pendant and underwear found with the body had been submitted to the police forensics laboratory. Khoiri added that the victim'€™s shoes and schoolbag had not been found.

Separately, the principal of SDN 05 Pagi, Sunarti, said Putri had left school as soon as classes were dismissed. She said she found out that her student had been murdered on Saturday morning when police officers told her.

For Sunarti, Putri was a jovial and intelligent student who had never made any trouble at school. She added that she also found Putri to be an independent girl as she always went to the school and returned home by herself.

'€œShe had outstanding grades in almost every subject. The school will pray for her during Monday'€™s flag ceremony,'€ she said.