Brawl Using Sajam In Subang Kills 1 Teenager, Police: Triggered By Challenges On IG Social Media

Illustration. A student was secured in a police car after being caught in a brawl on Jalan Arjuna, Tegal, Central Java, Thursday, October 3,2013. (ANTARA-Oky L)

West Java (West Java) Subang Police revealed a case of a teenage brawl that caused casualties in the Pantura route area of Subang Regency, West Java due to challenges on social media.

Subang Police Chief AKBP Dony Eko Wicaksono said the brawl that occurred on Saturday night, September 13, resulted in the death toll involving two groups of teenagers from Subang and Indramayu.

He explained that the brawl occurred due to the emergence of challenges for brawls that were launched through social media Instagram (IG). So, the motive behind the brawl is not a personal grudge, but an urge to find opponents and create content for the sake of popularity on social media.

"This incident started when they challenged each other between the admins of each group on Instagram. They then agreed to meet, and chose the Pantura route for a brawl," he said in Subang Regency, West Java, Monday, which was confiscated by Antara.

As a result of a brawl using sharp weapons (sajam) and beams, the victim with the initials RS (17) died after suffering head injuries, while WP (14) suffered injuries to the neck and is still undergoing intensive care.

Police officers from the Subang Police Resmob Team arrested 11 perpetrators with the initials ZA, DM, ME, IF, RDS, RM, MSA, MIS, ARS, T, and AFM in the Indramayu and Compreng areas.

The police also confiscated evidence in the form of a number of sharp weapons used during the brawl

For their actions, the perpetrators were threatened with Article 170 of the Criminal Code and the Child Protection Act.

The police chief said that until now the police are still conducting further investigations into the incident.

Due to the brawl that was triggered by challenges on social media, the Police Chief appealed to the public, especially parents, to monitor their children more closely and ensure the wise use of social media.

This must be done to prevent similar incidents. (KR-MAK)