Due To Noisy Husband And Wife, 30 Houses And TPA Al-Qur'an In Palangka Raya Burnt, Losses IDR 2 Billion

Members of the Inafis Polresta Palangka Raya conduct a crime scene at the location of the fire that occurred in Tumbang Rungan/ Antara Village

JAKARTA - Dozens of houses in Tumbang Rungan Village, Pahandut District, Palangka Raya City, Central Kalimantan, caught fire on Tuesday, August 3. The trigger is suspected to be a husband and wife quarrel (couples).

Head of Criminal Investigation Unit for Palangka Raya Police, Kompol Todoan Agung Gultom, said that the altercation began when AB (46), accused his wife NT (48) of having an affair. Not accepting the accusation, the husband set their house on fire.

"The suspect in the fire case, with the initials AB, is currently being taken into custody for further investigation," Todoan said as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, August 4.

He said investigators had also obtained eyewitnesses in the fire incident on Tuesday, August 3. The two witnesses were the wife of AB with the initials NT and a man with the initials AM, residents of Tumbang Rungan Village.

Members of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Palangka Raya Police have also conducted a crime scene (TKP) at the scene. From the results of the local police's Inafis crime scene, it was found that one burnt mattress was left as well as the ashes and charcoal.

"It is suspected that the mattress was deliberately burned by the alleged perpetrator, namely AB, has also been secured and the person concerned is currently undergoing examination," he said.

He explained that prior to the incident, AB was initially arguing or arguing with his wife at home.

The quarrel was allegedly because the wife accused her husband of having an affair. At around 14.00 WIB the fight continued so that the husband said 'if you want it hard, let it be hard'. At that time AB took a match and spilled gasoline on the mattress located near the window, causing the mattress to burn.

"When AB burned the mattress, the fire immediately grew and burned his own house, then the fire spread to the side of the house until the fire spread to all houses of residents living in the area of RT 001, RW I, Tumbang Rungan Village," he said.

The burning of 30 houses, two swallow nests, one TPA Al-Qur'an and five food stalls, resulted in a loss of around Rp. 2 billion.

There were no fatalities in this incident and the police are continuing to investigate the person suspected of deliberately setting fire to the house causing the incident to occur.