Thief Burned Alive for Botched Hijacking

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Jakarta. A mob burned alive a suspected motorcycle thief in the early hours of Tuesday after he was allegedly seen trying to assault two riders and steal their motorcycle in Pondok Aren, southwest of Jakarta, in Tangerang, Banten.

 

“There were four perpetrators trying to hijack a motorcycle ridden by a man and a woman,†said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul, adding that the attempted hijacking occurred at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday.

 

Police say the four were riding two motorcycles as they attempted to sandwich the targeted motorcycle, driven by a victim identified as W and a female passenger who has been named as S.

 

One of the perpetrators then pulled out a sword, trying to incapacitate the driver and the passenger.

 

“S put up a fight and grabbed the sword while the motorcycles were still moving,†Martinus said.

 

The sword wielder lost his balance and fell from the motorcycle.

 

The other three perpetrators rode from the scene while the fallen thief attempted to flee on foot before being chased down by witnesses.

 

Witnesses mobbed the thief and poured gasoline over him and lit him on fire, killing him.

 

“We have not obtained [the dead man’s] identity, because everything was burned,†the officer said.

 

The body “is now at Tangerang Hospital. We cannot recognize his face. All of his identification was burned in the fire.â€

 

Martinus said that while police are not planning to make arrests over the murder, he urged people not to take justice into their own hands.

 

“This is a country based on law. We must respect the law and honor one’s human rights. Let the police handle this,†he said.

 

Such extrajudicial murders are common in Indonesia, where there is low trust of law enforcement and judicial processes, where corruption is rampant.

 

University of Indonesia’s Josias Simon said these types of murder are unlikely to stop in Jakarta, particularly with the recent spike in armed hijacking of motorcycles.

 

Police have not released official figures, but the Jakarta Globe has reported at least 14 armed hijacking cases in the greater Jakarta area over the last month.

 

The suspects were sometimes armed with homemade firearms. During one Jan. 26 incident in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, three suspects were gunned down after a shootout with police.

 

In the wake of the incident, police in Jakarta formed a special team to handle to such cases, but so far have only made a minor impact.

 

“[The thieves] are taking advantage of the lack of proper infrastructure in certain areas like inadequate street lights,†Josias said.

 

“Police should step up patrols in dangerous areas like this while the local government should provide the necessary infrastructure.â€

 

Josias said there is a chance some of the suspects were part of the same crime organization.

 

Police say some suspects come from the same area in Lampung, despite operating in the greater Jakarta area.

 

“They operate in cells of between six and seven members. They rent a place together. At night they scan nearby streets and roads looking for potential victims,†Martinus said.

 

“Judging from previous cases, there are people from Lampung and there some local groups,†he said.

 

When asked about the possibility that all of the suspects from Lampung are part of the same group Martinus said: “That’s what we want to know. Are they part of a single network. We are currently investigating [this theory].â€

 

Martinus, however, said that the suspects share the same trait, that they are unafraid to harm or even kill their victim.

 

“Every police precinct have been instructed to form a team [to patrol and respond to such cases],†he said.

 

The Jakarta Police have formed two teams, Martinus said, from the violent crimes and mobile detectives units.

 

“Aside from that, we urge people to keep the number of their local police precincts so they can provide us with information needed to conduct patrols,precautionary steps even enforcement,†he said.

 

 

http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/thief-burned-alive-botched-hijacking/

 

 

 

good riddance tbh

[ETB5]

I understand what it is like for people who have to live in insecurity. They ultimately get fed up with the lack of response from the government/police to try to decrease the crime rate, and at the end of the day, they have to take matters into their own hands for their safety. However, it is never right for people to take justice into their own hands because things can escalate quickly from there (as seen here) in the short term, but also this has strong repercussions for a country in the long run. People will lose all respect for the law and a state of anarchy can ensue. What Indonesia has to do to prevent this is work on increasing the trust, and reducing the corruption in its law enforcement agencies. 

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you don't want to be on a motorcycle & some robbers chop off your arms to steal your vehicle

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thats terrible.