It apparently wasn’t all quiet and peace during the “Day of Silence” on the Balinese Hindu New Year, Nyepi this year.
Ketut Warta, a pecalang, traditional neighborhood security, was beat up in Denpasar when he tried to stop a man outside riding a bicycle on Tuesday, this year’s Nyepi, local media is reporting.
During Nyepi, Balinese tradition dictates everyone on the island must stay inside, keep lights off, and stay quiet.
Pecalang, like Ketut Warta, monitor the neighborhood and make sure lights can’t be seen from the outside, no noise can be heard from the street, and people aren’t wandering around. Rule-breakers are typically fined.
Though clearly, not everyone is always so great about playing by the rules.
“Yes, I was trying to stop an offender who was riding a bicycle. I do not know why he beat me,” Warta said, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
Warta had stopped 27-year-old Kembar Abdullah on Jl. Kalimutu in Denpasar’s Monang Maning area on Tuesday afternoon, when Abdullah allegedly knocked a punch to his left cheek and began beating him.
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Eventually, more pecalang came to Warta’s aid and called an ambulance to bring him to Denpasar’s Sanglah Hospital, whereas Abdullah was reportedly secured by West Denpasar Police. Warta suffered multiple injuries and abrasions, but no further information about his condition was included in local reports.
However, police say the matter has already been “amicably” taken care of.
“It has been amicably and peacefully resolved by police at Monang Maning,” Police Integrated Services Insp. Ketut Sunarka told Tribun Bali on Tuesday afternoon.
“(Abdullah) was rebuked and told to go home, because you’re not allowed to be in the street during Nyepi,” Sunarka said. Following the reprimand, Abdullah lashed out at Warta, he added.
There were apparently several other incidents that occurred this Nyepi. Two fires were reported, one at Puri Belaluan, Denpasar, and the other at Pasar Mengwi, Badung.
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