Two women found murdered in separate incidents

Monday, March 12, 2007
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In the week when women commemorated World Women's Day on March 8, two were found murdered in Jakarta.

A vegetable seller, Lestari, 41, was found dead in her mother's house in Gandaria, South Jakarta, at around 9 a.m. Saturday.

Her brother, Joko, found her in their mother's bedroom with a stab wound to her abdomen and a blood-stained knife a few meters from her body.

Less than three hours later, Lestari's ex-husband, Pramono, 35, turned himself in at a police station in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, confessing to the murder of his former wife.

He was then handed on to Kebayoran Baru Police, who were handling the case.

The couple divorced after 10 years of marriage because Pramono accused her of having an affair. Lestari and their two children moved to her 60-year-old mother's house, which was only a few meters away from the couple's contracted house.

The head of South Jakarta Police's general crime unit, Comr. Helmy Santika, said that from witnesses' testimonies police could conclude that the motive of the murder was jealousy.

Lestari's body had been sent to Fatmawati General Hospital for autopsy and would be brought to her home village in Klaten, Central Java, for burial.

Meanwhile, another woman was found dead with several stab wounds to her body in the house of Husein Abdul Azis, a House of Representatives member, on Wednesday.

Nurjanah, 33, who had been working as a maid for the family for some 20 years, was found dead in the Sunrise Garden housing complex home on Jl. Surya Mandala, Kedoya Utara, West Jakarta.

Reza, the son of the Democratic Party member, returned home at around 6 p.m. and found the house's gate locked from the outside. He asked the housing complex's security guards to help him open the gate and found Nurjanah's body on the floor inside the house.

An autopsy revealed dozens of stab wounds to her neck and body.

"The number of wounds indicates that the murderer was very angry," the head of West Jakarta Police's criminal unit, Comr. Andry Wibowo, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Police also found that some items in the room, such as the TV set and radio, had been removed. Besides a cell phone, no other valuables in the house were missing.

"The victim had Rp 1.3 million in her cupboard drawer, but the money was still there," said Andry.

Police were yet to determine whether Nurjanah was murdered in cold blood, or while foiling a robbery.

"Some facts lead us to conclude that this was purely murder, but we still have to conduct further investigations," he said, adding that the killer took the murder weapon from the kitchen, while robbers usually used their own weapons.

Police said the killer was most likely familiar to the victim, because she allowed the perpetrator to enter the house. Another fact, he added, was that the killer knew where she kept the key of the gate.

Police also discovered a piece of paper in her room inscribed with the words: "I want to be your wife, but don't hurt me. Give me happiness".

Eight people were now being questioned by police, but none have been named as suspects. (02)