A producer for a news program on national TV station RTV, Raden Sandi Syafiek (37), was killed in a hit-and-run while he was riding his bicycle on Jakarta’s Jalan Gatot Subroto on Saturday — an incident that the police said was caused by a fit of road rage.
On Saturday morning, Raden and a friend, named Mulana Aditya, were riding their bikes on the road when an SUV hit them both before it fled the scene. Raden reportedly died on his way to a hospital while Mulana suffered minor injuries.
The SUV driver, identified by the initials MJ, turned himself in to the police later in the afternoon. He claimed he deliberately drove away after the collision to avoid becoming a victim of mob justice (mobs ganging up on drivers responsible for traffic accidents is quite common in Indonesia, to the point that even cops have joined in dishing out the extrajudicial punishment).
“After seeing the news [that Raden had died], MJ said goodbye to his family at home. He told his family that he made a mistake and he must take responsibility,” said Grand Commissioner Halim Pagarra, director of the Traffic Department at the Jakarta Metro Police, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
Halim added that MJ, when he was driving the SUV, was upset that he was overtaken by a motorcyclist, whom he then tried to chase in a fit of road rage.
“Because he was angry while chasing the motorcyclist, he hit the two cyclists, one on his left and one on his right,” Halim said.
In accordance to Traffic Law no. 22/2009, MJ could face up to 6 years’ imprisonment for causing death by reckless driving.
