An inmate at a Jembrana detention center caused quite a ruckus recently after he suddenly ate his own feces, later claiming that he was told to do it by supernatural entities.
“He told his fellow inmates that he saw a female figure and a monkey. So these two entities then told him to [eat his own feces],” Purniawal, head of Detention Center Class II B in Negara, Jembrana, told Tribun-Bali on Wednesday.
The inmate, identified as Putu Suastika, is in custody at the detention center while his trial is still ongoing at the Jembrana Court, where he stands accused of having allegedly stolen motorcycles.
Purniawal also said that Suastika had a history of mental illness, having once been treated at the Bangli Psychiatric Hospital, and has been difficult to communicate with.
Prior to the feces-eating incident, which reportedly took place last week, the detention center claimed to have taken extra care in treating Suastika, mainly by rooming him with inmates who were deemed to have good behavior. After what happened, Purniawal said an officer has been specifically tasked with monitoring Suastika’s behavior.
“We plan on working together with the Negara Community Health Center (Puskesmas) to monitor his personality disorder. Every morning, we invite him to exercise, with the hope that it might lead to some positive changes. We always strive to give him extra attention, because he is different from the rest,” Purniawal told Nusa Bali.
In Indonesia, people will mental illnesses struggle due to a severe lack of mental healthcare professionals and facilities, as well as strong cultural stigmas that prevent them and their families from seeking treatment. In a 2018 report, Human Rights Watch highlighted how thousands of people with psychosocial disabilities “remain in chains or locked up in institutions across the country.”
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