A man in Sukasada district, Buleleng regency was fined and made to wear a hazmat suit for a couple of hours as punishment for allegedly holding a cockfight amid the tightened restrictions being imposed islandwide.
The Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), along with a joint team from the local military base and related government agencies, were patrolling the village on Wednesday when they found a villager carrying a basket containing a gamecock. The authorities tailed the villager to a cockfight — locally known as tajen — held on an open field.
The officers carried out a raid and dispersed the crowd, with dozens of people fleeing the scene and leaving their fowl behind. One of the cockfight organizers, identified as 53-year-old KBA, was apprehended during the raid.
“Activities like that [cockfighting] will definitely attract a crowd,” Buleleng Satpol PP Chief Putu Artawan said yesterday.
According to Artawan, KBA said he organized the cockfight out of financial desperation.
“He said he didn’t receive any aid. But when [we] asked the village officials [it turns out that KBA] actually has,” Artawan said.
Authorities brought KBA to the Sukasada sub-precinct for questioning, after which he was slapped with an IDR1 million (US$69) fine and told to wear a hazmat suit outdoors for two hours.
Artawan lamented that the tajen took place despite the implementation of the Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (PPKM) amid the most devastating wave of COVID-19 in Bali.
It remains to be seen if KBA would face additional charges on gambling for organizing the cokfight. Under the Criminal Code, gambling is punishable by up to four years in prison.
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