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Teen burned to death in fatal brawl in Bekasi
What started as exchange of insults between two groups of young men in the early hours of the morning on Idul Fitri in Bekasi, West Java, ended in a brutal murder after a teenager was allegedly burned to death by members of a rival group
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span>What started as exchange of insults between two groups of young men in the early hours of the morning on Idul Fitri in Bekasi, West Java, ended in a brutal murder after a teenager was allegedly burned to death by members of a rival group.
Putra Aditya, 18, suffered severe burns all over his body. After being treated for two days at Kramat Jati Police Hospital in East Jakarta, he passed away from his injuries.
The Jatiasih Police arrested five of eight suspects, one of whom turned himself in on Thursday.
The suspects were identified only as RAS, 17, Nurhamza Sutarna, 24, TG, 15, Angga Priyanto, 22, and 21-year-old Manarul Hidayah, who surrendered to the police.
Bekasi Police Deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eka Mulyana said the incident took place early in the morning of Idul Fitri on June 5. The victim and seven of his friends were riding motorcycles at 3 a.m. when they ran into the suspects’ group in Jatiasih. Putra’s friend allegedly angered the rival group by insulting them, prompting them to chase after Putra and his friends on motorcycles.
It was reported that as his friends all got away, Putra decided to get off of his motorbike and challenge the group alone. He was then chased and beaten up.
“He ran into a food stall but was caught and dragged outside. He was beaten until he fell over,” Eka said on Wednesday as reported by kompas.com.
One of the suspects allegedly took bottled gasoline from the vendor and poured it all over the victim’s body before lighting it.
As Putra’s body caught fire, the perpetrators all ran away, Eka said.
Local residents helped put out the fire, then took Putra to the hospital.
The 18-year-old’s death left his family in shock.
“We were all in shock. We still cannot grasp what really happened,” Tri Ambarwati, Putra’s mother, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
She said Putra’s older brother, Alfian Munandar, was hospitalized after hearing about his brother’s death.
His family was unsure about the number of people who assaulted him. The police reported eight suspects, but the family believe there were more.
“[Putra’s] friends told me that there were at least 20 people, but the police said there were only eight,” Tri added.
Putra worked as an angkot (public minivan) driver and lived away from home with his driver friends. He came home only to bathe and eat, recalled Tri.
On the night before the incident at 10 p.m., Putra told his mother he was going out to the Kota Tua tourist site in West Jakarta with his friends.
However, at 11 p.m. Tri met Putra and his friends at a street corner near her house and was informed that the plan to go to Kota Tua was canceled. Her son did not tell her where he was going to next. Tri did not think much about her son’s whereabouts as he was rarely home. She assumed he would return to her house at the end of the night.
The incident left eyewitnesses traumatized.
Tati Apriyansyah, the owner of the food stall, pledged to stop selling bottled gasoline. Her husband, who witnessed the assault firsthand, refused to talk to the media.
“People ask why [we stopped selling gasoline], but we are just scared about being blamed for being complicit in the incident,” she said.
Effan Kurniawan, a local ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, said brawls were common in the area, especially after midnight and before dawn.
“Usually the brawls happen between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.,” he said.
The Jakarta Police had bolstered security throughout the month of Ramadan, when brawls often take place among youth groups during sahur (predawn meal). A 16-year-old student died last month during a Sahur On The Road event after he was assaulted by a motorcycle gang in Setiabudi, South Jakarta.
Bekasi Police spokeswoman Comr. Erna Ruswing said the police had taken measures to crackdown on brawls, illegal firecracker use, the vandalization of public places and illegal street racing.
This is not the first such killing to have taken place in Bekasi. In 2017, a 30-year-old man named Muhammad Al Zahra was burned to death by local residents after he was accused of stealing an amplifier from a local musholla (prayer room) in Suka Tenang village in Bekasi. The Bekasi District Court declared six men guilty for his death and sentenced them to up to eight years in prison. (eyc)
