THE policemen infiltrated the village soon after dawn, abruptly descending on Bulurejo, in the Gondangrejo district of Karanganyar, Central Java. Their target was a modest house with bamboo walls, located in the hamlet of Grumbulrejo. Living there was the family of Suparmi and Joko Wibowo, her adopted child.

The siege, conducted in the middle of January, was undertaken by Detachment 88 of the National Police Headquarters. It happened very fast an