The owner of a café in Sanur, where a bloody altercation took place on Sunday, has been charged with murder after the man he assaulted for attacking another person died from his head injury.
Police say that the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, consistent with previous reports from local media outlets. It was preceded by the victim, identified by his alias Gung Monjong, heading into the café while intoxicated and then asking an employee, identified by her initials FM, to sleep with him.
They then retreated to a room where Monjong asked FM for her “fees,” which she said was IDR150,000 (US$10). However, Monjong took out his knife and said he didn’t want to pay. FM refused and left the room, seeking help from a woman identified as OJAM, who was nearby at the time.
OJAM is the wife of the suspect, a 34-year-old man identified as IA, who was informed of the chaos at the café via a text message. He then headed to the café with a sickle in hand.
During this time, an officer from the South Denpasar sub-precinct was alerted to Monjong’s threat and arrived at the scene to gather information. Monjong then crossed paths with a man identified as PPP and the two got into an argument.
Despite efforts to separate the two, Monjong managed to stab PPP with a knife in his stomach.
IA, who had arrived at this point, took his sickle and struck Monjong in the head.
“Because of his serious injury, on Sunday, Oct. 11 at around 12pm, the victim was declared dead at Sanglah General Hospital,” South Denpasar sub-precinct chief Citra Fatwa Rahmadani said.
Though previous reports suggested that IA went to the police station on his own, police say he was taken there by the officer who was at the scene.
“The suspect struck the victim because he cannot accept seeing his friend (PPP) stabbed, so he was angry and he took his sickle to attack the victim,” Citra said.
During a press conference yesterday, IA told local media outlets that he had no choice but to defend his friend.
“I was right behind PPP, and suddenly Gung Monjong stabbed him. I moved to strike Gung Monjong spontaneously. PPP was my brother, my friends for years, but we’re like brothers,” IA said.
IA has been charged with murder under Indonesia’s criminal code (KUHP), which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
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