Indonesian Police Arrest Alleged Cannibal on Java Island

Jan. 16, 2003

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesian police have arrested a man who allegedly dug up the corpse of his 80-year-old female neighbor before eating parts of the body and feeding some of the flesh to his unwitting father, a police official said Thursday.

Officers also found two sets of dried male genitals in the house of the suspect, identified only as Sumanto, and are investigating him over possible murder charges, local police chief Lt. Col. Agus Sofyan Abadi said.

The 30-year-old was arrested on Tuesday in his home close to the central Javanese town of Purbalingga, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Jakarta, Abadi said.

Officers found parts of a female corpse buried behind the house, while other parts were arranged on a dinner plate, he said.

Sumanto allegedly confessed to frying flesh from the women's legs and giving around ten slices to his father after telling him it was goat meat, Abadi said.

Sumanto believed eating the flesh would give him supernatural powers, Abadi said, adding officers were arranging for a psychiatrist to examine him.

Abadi said Sumanto allegedly exhumed the body, which had only been buried for a day, on Sunday before bringing it to his home on his bicycle.

If convicted of digging up a corpse, Sumanto could be sentenced to a year in prison. Indonesian law does not recognize cannibalism as a criminal offense.

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