Tuesday, Sep 18, 2012
JAKARTA - A lonely man who burned his estranged wife's panties in a bizarre ritual to win her back was arrested in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, police said on Monday.
Muhammad Ridwan, 38, was arrested on Sunday evening for endangering others after his neighbours noted the fire in his room and beat him black and blue on suspicions that he wanted to burn down his entire boarding house.
Ridwan told detectives that his enraged neighbours wouldn't believe him when he said he was doing a mystic ritual to woo his estranged wife back.
"He believed his wife, who moved out after a spat, would come back to him if he burned her underwear and applied the ashes to his body," Tanah Abang precinct detective unit commander Comr. Widarto told detik.com.
Widarto said the incident started around 7:30 p.m. when Yunita, a neighbour, found Ridwan was burning clothes. In a panic, Yunita grabbed a bottle of kerosene, which she thought was mineral water, and poured it into the fire.
"When the fire exploded, somebody panicked outside screamed that Ridwan was setting the house on fire," Widarto said.
Residents across Jakarta have been on alert for fires, which have destroyed hundreds of homes during the prolonged dry season. The fires have added heat to the ongoing gubernatorial campaigning, with some blaming supporters of the candidates who lost in the first round of voting in July.
