Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Sat, May 26, 2012
Archive Search

Women Looking for Missing Child Beaten by Aceh Mob
Nurdin Hasan |

Share This Page
45
3
0
16
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

BrahmaPutra
9:59am Dec 16, 2010

Ah, the peaceful tolerant religion of Islam that according to Sharia law allows any mob to beat up anyone they please without any repercussions whatsoever. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." WHEN are the moderate muslims of this country going to stand up and say these mob practices are not what Indonesia is about. If they do not do it soon, it will be what Indonesia is all about. Getting rid of all the foreign influence, make a Shari Islamic state and to hell with anyone who has a differing opinion.

Dr.Biz
8:46am Dec 16, 2010

As I said many times before: Islam is really Religion of Love, Peace and Equality.......

devine
3:24am Dec 16, 2010

What really strikes me is that for years we were internationally blamed for fighting GAM and their fight for liberation from Indonesia. Did all these critics of our Government all around the world KNOW that it will all end up in a TALIBAN style society in Aceh once they reach their goal??? Now they have authonomy and see what is happening... And worse, now the same people / governments start to call us islamists... weird and sad. I believe we should NOT have given in.

BilboBaggins
9:25pm Dec 15, 2010

LaurenPalembang, it's so common because the perpetrators are rarely punished. It's like, Oh well, they made a mistake, never mind, it's not their fault.

LaurenPalembang
10:59am Dec 15, 2010

Why is this sort of thing so common in Indonesian news? It's like people just don't have any self control. They work in groups and their whole outlook is divisive. The people come across incredibly primitive. They are easily roused to mob violence and many of the stories concering these attacks are not rational; of course there is a better way than attacking people. It's like they would rather fight than talk. I can't understand this, it's vile and devoid of logic. Even if you think two women are actually kidnappers, without any proof except some gossip over a text message, isn't it enough that the police take care of it? Anyone would think the women were caught in the act tying up children and throwing them into cars to be sold on the sex market.

Banda Aceh. Two women in Aceh are in critical condition after being beaten on Saturday by a mob of villagers who mistook them for kidnappers.

The victims were identified as Yuniarti, 45, a survivor of the 2004 tsunami in Banda Aceh, and her friend, Syafira, 40, a civil servant in Tamiang district.

Authorities said the women had gone to the Gempong Kuala elementary school in Langsa to visit a sixth-grader named Febi Gebriana who looked like Yuniarti’s missing daughter.

The child was last seen six years ago, before the Dec. 26 tsunami, which claimed the lives of over 160,000 people in Indonesia and thousands more in countries around the Indian Ocean. Yuniarti has been looking for her daughter since.

Yosi Muhamartha, chief of the Langsa District Police, said the women’s visit to the school seemed suspicious to the villagers, who were on edge over text messages warning about alleged kidnappings in Aceh.

Yosi said some residents brought Yuniarti and Syafira to the village chief’s office for questioning over why they wanted to visit a particular student.

The women, meanwhile, said they simply wanted to see Febi and had gotten permission from the school’s principal to do so.
A witness said hundreds of villagers soon marched into the office and attacked Yuniari and Syafira, refusing to stop even when police arrived and fired warning shots.

“The residents have been worried because of rumors about abductions,” Yosi said. “The angry mob didn’t care. They beat up the two women until they were in critical condition.”

The same witness said police were able to carry Yuniarti and Syafira away from the mob and into a waiting patrol car. Even then, the witness said, villagers chased after the vehicle.

The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital, but Syafira had to be transferred to a bigger hospital in Medan because she had a collarbone fracture  and wounds all over her body.

Yuniarti also sustained serious injuries and had to undergo intensive medical treatment at Langsa General Hospital.
Yosi said both women had “good intentions” when they visited the school and it was unfortunate that villagers resorted to violence when they confronted the victims.

The police chief said he suspected someone in the village persuaded other residents to attack Yuniarti and Syafira.

Some suspects have been questioned by the police in Langsa, but none have been arrested for the attack, according to Yosi.

Authorities have warned residents in Aceh against vigilantism, saying the text messages about kidnappings in the province were unfounded.

In Aceh’s western coast, however, villagers have formed patrols in their areas and begun conducting checks on passing cars at night, in response to the text-message warnings.

Yosi said police and regional government officials were working together to correct this misinformation.

“The rumor is baseless, started by some irresponsible people to create fear within the society,” he said. “So far, there have been no [recent] kidnapping cases in Langsa.”