A monkey grave in the forested area of Gilimanuk, Jembrana caused quite a stir when local residents mistook it for the grave of a baby.
Local resident Sutrisno reportedly first came across the strange makeshift grave when out searching for firewood. Seeing the small freshly dug mound adorned with coconuts, bananas, flowers, and incense, the spot apparently attracted the attention of a lot of people off the main road, since the grave wasn’t too far from the edge of the road connecting Denpasar and Gilimanuk.
Apparently some residents really were alarmed by the thought of it being a baby’s grave and got the police involved—not that we could blame them, as there have been way too many reports of people dumping and abandoning newborn babies around Bali.
To check the contents of the grave, a joint team from Gilimanuk Water Police and Jembrana Criminal Investigative Police, along with a doctor from a local health center, excavated the grave that reportedly measured 70 by 30 centimeters.
As the grave was dug up, there was reportedly a rotten scent, which only seemed to reinforce everyone’s idea that it was a dead baby buried there. But, when they opened up the shroud, lo and behold, there was a monkey carcass, which is believed to have been killed by a vehicle.
“Maybe someone felt sorry for hitting the monkey, so they buried it like this. We were just unloading this grave to verify what was buried in there,” Gilimanuk Water Police Assistant Chief Commissioner Anak Agung Gede Arka said, as quoted by Kabar 24.
Well that was a relief! Poor monkey, but at least someone had the decency to give him a proper burial!
