An incident allegedly involving a politician, his wife, and his mistress has captured public attention in North Sulawesi, after scenes filmed by bystanders circulated widely online.
The incident reportedly went down in South Tomohon district, Tomohon city. Local media outlets identified the man in the drama as James Arthur Kojongian, the deputy speaker of North Sulawesi’s Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), with his wife Michaela Elsiana Paruntu and his alleged mistress Angel completing the triangle.
In the video, Michaela can be seen jumping onto the hood of the car James was driving, with Angel sitting on the passenger seat. The woman was heard screaming while lying face down and holding onto the hood of the car, even as James continued to step on the gas pedal.
“You get off the car, get off!” Michaela can be heard screaming in Minahasan.
Her loud screams attracted the attention of residents in the area, who rushed to the scene to try to stop James’ car.
“My husband is with his mistress inside the car. Her name is [Angel], her mother is a penatua (church official), I don’t want to get off the car before the woman gets out,” Michaela said.
Another clip shows James the moment he finally exited the car, before harshly pulling Michaela away from the car hood as someone in the background audibly recognizing the politician and identifying him by name.
According to reports, Michaela was carried away on the car hood for as far as 30 meters. Tomohon Police Chief Bambang A Gatot said the alleged incident took place on Saturday.
“The person in the video that’s circulating is allegedly the DPRD Deputy, it took place in Tumatangtang sub-district (kelurahan) late at night. But we don’t know exactly what happened, because there are no reports filed to us so far,” Bambang said yesterday, adding that the police will look into the case once they receive a report.
Meanwhile, James reportedly evaded reporters questioning him about the viral video at the North Sulawesi DPRD office.
“I don’t know who that is. Definitely not us, lah. Why are there so many of you (reporters),” James said.
Following the allegations, DPRD’s Board of Ethics says it is launching an investigation into the case in the near future.
