Jakarta, IO – A student at the Indonesian Merchant Marine Academy (STIP), identified as P, 19, died after being assaulted by his seniors. North Jakarta Police chief Gidion Arif Setyawan explained that the incident began when P and his four fellow students were engaged in the cadet “tradition” in the bathroom at around 7.55am WIB, Friday (3/5).
“Because the seniors thought that there was something wrong so the victim was summoned to the bathroom,” said Gidion, per CNN Indonesia, Thu (9/5).
P was initially hit by TRS in the solar plexus with his bare hands, causing him to pass out and fall to the floor. TRS panicked and then took the victim to a classroom near the toilet for what the suspect claimed was a rescue effort.
Gidion explained that the suspect put his hand in the victim’s mouth and pulled out his tongue. “But that actually closed the (respiratory) tract, with a fatal result,” said Gidion.
The victim was then rushed to Taruma Jaya Hospital but he could not be saved. Gidion said the police have performed an autopsy on the victim’s body and found a wound in the solar plexus area which caused the scar tissue to rupture and led to bleeding. There were also abrasions in the mouth.
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Police initially named TRS as a suspect. But after further investigation, three more suspects — AK, WJP and FA — were implicated as abettors.
Police have also questioned 43 witnesses, including students, caregivers, clinic doctors, hospital doctors, criminal experts and language experts.
Several pieces of evidence have been seized, including surveillance cameras for digital analysis, post-mortem results, the suspects’ clothes and the victim’s clothes. (un)