Suspected killer of SJI student arrested: police
UPDATED
The suspected killer of a 16-year-old boy studying in Singapore has been captured, according to a statement by the Jakarta Metro Police.
St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) student Christopher Melky Tanujaya, was stabbed to death while visiting his family in Jakarta.
The police said the suspect Abdul Jalil, who also goes by Ayub, was caught at 9pm on Thursday in Penjaringan, North Jakarta.
The police identified the suspect by using CCTV camera footage from the crime scene and monitored the victim's handphone, which the suspect had run away with.
The 24-year-old suspect, who is unemployed, told the police he wanted to rob the victim's handphone and stabbed him, when the victim fought back.
After seeing him fall to the ground, Ayub ran and hid in his rented room in Bakti Street, Penjaringan, North Jakarta.
He then tried to wash away the blood stains on his shirt and cut his curly hair.
The suspect is charged with torture and assault, which carries a sentence of five years in prison. He is also charged with violent theft, which carries a sentence of 20 years in prison.
Tanjuya had travelled home for the December holidays and was stabbed on Monday evening in four places on his neck, chest and back, police told The Jakarta Globe, which reported the incident on Thursday.
Another newspaper, The Jakarta Post, reported on Wednesday that he was found near a bus shelter in Pluit, a district of Penjaringan in north Jakarta, at 7pm local time.
The Globe quoted a local police chief saying that a passerby had heard the boy’s calls for help but after being taken to the hospital the student died from his wounds.
Tanujaya had come to Singapore earlier this year on a Ministry of Education scholarship, after winning a medal in a national science Olympiad for his school last year, reported the Globe.
His father, Stefanus Hans Tanujaya, told the newspaper that Christopher’s death was a great blow to his family as his son was not a confrontational person.
“He was a good kid, he liked to hang out with his friends and never got into trouble,” he was quoted as saying by the Globe. “I never saw him argue with his friends… he liked to socialise, to play sports. He was just a very down-to-earth person.”
The Post reported that his mother, Norma Susilowati, said he had no enemies, and had met up with his fellow Singapore scholars that day.
In his short academic year at SJI, the secondary 3 student was part of the school’s Vocal Ensemble and Green Club, and was recognised for his soccer-playing skills and his aptitude in Mathematics.
A spokesperson for the school told Yahoo! Singapore that the SJI community “is deeply saddened by the loss of one of (their) own”, adding that he was a friend who reached out to help weaker students.
Christopher’s classmates, seniors and peers in and out of SJI, as well as friends who were staying with him in the Catholic Junior College hostel, expressed their shock and sadness at his passing, with many taking to Facebook and posting messages in tribute to him on his wall.
“We shall celebrate your place in our lives, the difference you have made, big and small,” wrote university undergraduate Agung Santoso Ongko, a hostel-mate.
“I’ll definitely remember you forever as a fantastic soccer player, a genius at math and most importantly a really great friend,” wrote classmate Pratyay Jaidev.
Choir mate Chan Tian Min also reminisced the times he shared with Christopher, saying, “It was really heartening to see you trying your best during every practice to sing that part well.
“It has come (as) a great shock to (us) to hear the news this morning. We have really lost a great friend. Rest in peace Malky. We’ll miss you :’(“
