A question that often gets asked in Ethics 101 classes is, “Is it wrong for a poor man to steal a loaf of bread to feed his starving family?”
Well how about, “Is it wrong for a man to rob a woman at knifepoint and steal her jewelry so that he can feed his hungry baby (and so he can pay off his motorcycle loans)?”
That’s the defense given by Leman, a 27-year-old criminal who broke into the Bumi Cengkareng Indah apartment in Cengkareng, West Jakarta yesterday.
After gaining entry to the apartment of a 24-year-old woman named Dewi Puspitasari, Leman threatened her with a knife and forced her to hand over Rp 15 million worth of gold jewelry.
Cengkareng Police Chief Commissioner Sutarjono said Leman was able to enter because Dewi had left her door unlocked. Fortunately other tenants of the apartment noticed the suspicious intruder and called the police, who responded fast enough to catch him.
Leman told the arresting officers that he was forced to rob out of desperation because he needed money to buy milk for his baby and pay off his motorcycle creditors.
“Between buying milk and paying the motorcycle creditor, it [amounts to] Rp 800,000 per month,” Leman said, as quoted by Okezone.
Well Rp 15 million certainly would have bought a lot of milk. But Leman’s crime could now cost him up to 5 years in prison.
