Image: Two men arrested on Thursday. Credit: ratopati.com
Two foreigners, both alleged to be suffering depression, got themselves in hot water last Thursday in Kuta and Denpasar.
A Swiss citizen, R.P.H., 59, was arrested by Denpasar police after he became angry and hit several consulate staff members at the Swiss Consulate Office on Jalan Ganetri, East Denpasar, around midday, Thursday.
It was so noisy that local residents living nearby also heard the ruckus. “I heard someone screaming several times. Then everyone in the office just ran outside. Some of the staff said that there was someone angry, smashing up the place and attacking several staff members,” said a witness to nusabali.com.
The consulate staff called for help from the Regional Disaster Management Board, police, and community police (Satpol) to assist.
East Denpasar Police and Satpol officers came to the scene. They tied the man’s hands and legs, as he wouldn’t stop fighting when they tried to arrest him. They also injected him with a sedative to calm him down and eventually managed to get him out of the consulate office.
The Head of Denpasar Satpol Action Unit, IBP Asirwada, said they used the sedative because he kept fighting and they could not handle him without it.
“We don’t know what the cause was, but we suspect that he is suffering depression,” he said. The evacuation process took almost two hours. He was taken by ambulance to Sanglah Hospital to get a psychological checked.
Head of East Denpasar Polsek, Commissioner Nyoman Karang Adiputra, said that the incident began when the man, who lives in Buleleng District came to the consulate office to report that his passport was missing. Then, according to Berita Bali, consulate staff, advised him to go to the Swiss Embassy in Jakarta. When he arrived in Jakarta, he was disappointed to find out that process would take a long time. “He went back to Bali. Then, on January 31, 2019, at around 12.20pm, he arrived to the consulate office again and told the staff that he didn’t have any money left to get a new passport and needed a ticket back to Switzerland as he had a family problem there,” he said.
A consular assistant, Ulrike Keller tried to assist him, but the suspect became angry, but then told her that he wanted to find something to eat outside. He came back with a cup of coffee shortly after and threw it over her head.
“The woman tried to flee out the back door with other staff, but he chased them and started throwing bells (we presume Swiss cow bells) at the walls and breaking up furniture in the room,” he added.
The Swiss Honorary Consul, Gerhard L. Nutz, was called and tried to calm him down, but the man lashed out again and hit him too. The incident came to an end after local residents and three Satpol officers managed to pull him down and tied him up.
Meanwhile, according to the consulate, two days before the incident, the suspect’s wife went to the office and reported that her husband’s passport wasn’t missing at all. She also said that the man was suffering depression.
On the same day, Thursday, at around 4pm, an Australian citizen named C. J. T., 42, got on the wrong side of the law too.
The man went berserk after being told he wasn’t allowed to stay at the Novotel Hotel at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. After harassing the hotel security and later being secured at the airport police station, it turned out that the man was wanted by the Kuta Police for an assault charge. He was then taken to Kuta police headquarters.
According to information in Jawa Post, the incident began when the man entered the Novotel Hotel wanting to check in, but didn’t have a passport nor cash, and only possessed a watch that he offered as deposit on the room.
After the hotel staff refused him entry, the man became abusive. Security arrived and tried to exit the man from the lobby as he continued throwing abuse at the staff.
Arriving outside, the man went berserk, punching the security officer in the face causing his lip to break open. Airport police were called, who moved quickly to secure the man.
After finding out the identity of the man, it was discovered he was a fugitive from Kuta Police, being involved in an assault case just that morning.
It was reported yesterday in the Bali Post the initial incident was in a Kuta hotel. The man was staying at the hotel located on Jalan Puri Gerenceng and arrived back at the hotel at around 3am. He knocked on the door of adjacent hotel room, saying he was looking for a friend.
Then the man allegedly asked permission to hug the 20 year old man at the door and was immediately rejected. The Australian man again requested permission to borrow the young man’s jacket.
“The victim said he did not have a jacket and that’s when the perpetrator immediately hit him,” said a source.
The blow hit the victim’s nose and he screamed in pain. The young man reported the incident to the Kuta Police.
“After the incident the perpetrator immediately checked out of the hotel, but left all his things in the room. So the man ran off only wearing the clothes on his back. The passport and the money were left at the hotel,” said the source, who was reluctant to give his name to the press.
Based on the police report, the police team led by Inspector Budi Artama checked the crime scene and believed the perpetrator would return at some point to the hotel to take his belongings.
Then the airport police detained the man at the Novotel Hotel at around 4pm in Ngurah Rai Airport.
The Australian man is still being held at Kuta Polsek
