Indonesian police raiding the house of a man suspected of fraud discovered the mummified body of an infant girl hidden inside an unused aquarium, a report said on Tuesday.
The dried-up body was found covered in lime powder inside a glass box hidden at the bottom of the empty aquarium in the house in Bandung, the state Antara news agency quoted local police chief Susi Susilawati as saying.
Police raided the house of a man suspected of fraud after residents complained of suspicious activities by the house owner and his guests, Susilawati said.
House owner Rifqi Jaya Hermawan (48) was detained for questioning and may face charges of murder on top of the fraud charges, she said without giving details on the fraud cases.
”The finding of the dry corpse was only by coincidence when we raided the house of Rifqi which is often used for suspicious meetings. The house owner himself is also suspected of involvement in fraud cases,” Susilawati said.
The identity of the dead body remained unknown, with Rifqi only admitting the infant died about a month earlier, she said.
The mummified remains were sent to a hospital for forensic investigation.
Local residents were quoted by Antara as saying they suspected the house owner and his guests were involved in occult rituals.
In many parts of Indonesia, mummified bodies or body parts are often used for occult rituals.
Susilawati said two other men were also being sought by the police in connection with the discovery of the body. – AFP
