Student Killed in Latest Brawl Between Rival Jakarta Schools

Bayu Marhaenjati

[Updated on Tuesday, September 25, 2012]

A violent brawl on Monday between students from
state high schools SMAN 6 and SMAN 70 in Bulungan, South Jakarta, left a
15 year-old student dead and at least two others severely injured.

“One boy, named Alawi, died. He was an SMAN 6 student,” said Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermawan, South Jakarta Police chief of detectives.

He
said that the student had a stab wound on his chest, while one student
had his fingers injured and another sustained a forehead injury,
probably from a rock.

“We have yet to [discover] the identity of the two injured students,” said Hermawan.

He
added that the body of the student who died has been taken to Fatmawati
Hospital in South Jakarta and the two injured students are being
treated at Muhammadiyah Hospital, also in South Jakarta.

A
witness said the incident took place at about noon when 15 students of
SMAN 6 were headed toward Tugu Taman park. Swiftly, 20 students from
nearby SMAN 70 attacked them and a brawl erupted.

“It happened very quickly. They attacked and then immediately dispersed,” the witness said.

Hermawan
said that the police are now investigating the case, examining the
scene and interrogating several witnesses, but have not made any arrests
in the fatal brawl.

Students from SMAN 6 and SMAN 70 have often scuffled with one another.

Melees
among students of high schools and universities occur often across
Indonesia, resulting in serious injuries and even deaths.

Last
Thursday, a brawl on the campus of Indonesian Muslim University in
Makassar, South Sulawesi, resulted in Muhammad Ibrahim Rauf, 21, a
final-year electrical engineering student, getting stabbed.

He was rushed to the nearby Ibnu Sina Hospital but died from his injury.

The
violence was sparked by a minor incident in which a mechanical
engineering student was scolded and hit by a senior. The student then
roped in several of his associates from the university’s civil
engineering school into attacking the mechanical engineering school
building.

The rival groups threw rocks and fired arrows at one
another. They also shattered several windows and destroyed motorcycles
parked in the area before police could break them up. Police seized
dozens of bows and arrows, machetes and other homemade weapons from the
students.

The stabbing victim was reportedly among the attackers.

On
Friday, officials of the university ordered the campus shut down for
three days in anticipation of more brawls breaking out. All the
entrances to the campus would be locked, with a police guard posted at
the main gate.

The university said it had given the names of all the students involved to the police for their investigation.