On a single island known for its sunsets and its crowds, two young women from abroad carried a night's violation home in the same week, each trusting a stranger for something ordinary: a ride home, a hand to find lost belongings. Police in Bali have taken the first report seriously and detained one man, while the search for another continues along roads where the lamps stand on one side only. Such stories tend to arrive as statistics, but here they arrive as two particular nights, and they ask a quiet question of every visitor and every host who shares a dark street with a stranger.
Police in Bali arrest one suspect after two foreign tourists report rape in separate incidents
Two foreign women were allegedly raped in Bali; one victim was also robbed of her phone and both report trauma and fear.
"The victim feels shocked, traumatised and fearful."
Mark
Two cases in two days. Are they connected?
Mimi
Nothing in the reporting links them. Different districts, different circumstances, different alleged perpetrators. What they share is the hour, around 4am, and that both women were tourists.
Luke
Worth stressing that the link is only timing. Police haven't suggested any connection, so we shouldn't build one.
Mark
What stands out about how each encounter began?
Mimi
Both involved someone offering help. A motorcyclist gave a ride, and a security guard walked a woman back to retrieve her belongings. In the first case the phone was taken under the pretext of navigation.
Luke
Those details come from the victims' accounts as relayed by police. They are allegations at this stage, and the Chinese victim's account is the only version we have.
Mark
Where do the cases stand?
Mimi
A suspect identified as ABM is detained in the Seminyak case. In the Pecatu case, nobody has been arrested yet.
Luke
And detained is not charged or convicted. We also don't know whether the motorcyclist has been identified. The reporting doesn't say.
Mark
What should we watch for next?
Mimi
An arrest in the Pecatu case, and whether authorities respond with any changes to safety around nightlife areas.
Il Polso
- Two foreign women reported rapes within a single day, in separate incidents on Bali's busy tourist strip.
- A 22-year-old Chinese tourist says she was driven down an unlit roadside in Pecatu, robbed of her phone, and left shaken, while the motorcyclist remains unidentified.
- An Australian woman says she was attacked by a security guard at a Seminyak venue after asking him for help retrieving her belongings, and police have detained a suspect identified as ABM.
- Police are racing to identify and arrest the motorcyclist, and the spotlight is turning toward nightlife safety across Badung.
- Both women are living with trauma and fear, and the island's reputation now rests on how swiftly justice follows.
On a single island known for its sunsets and its crowds, two young women from abroad carried a night's violation home in the same week, each trusting a stranger for something ordinary: a ride home, a hand to find lost belongings. Police in Bali have taken the first report seriously and detained one man, while the search for another continues along roads where the lamps stand on one side only. Such stories tend to arrive as statistics, but here they arrive as two particular nights, and they ask a quiet question of every visitor and every host who shares a dark street with a stranger.
Two foreign women went to police in Bali within a day of each other, each describing an assault on the island's tourist strip. One is a 22-year-old from Chongqing who had been drinking with a friend from Kazakhstan at a bar in Uluwatu. Around 4am she decided to follow her friend back to their guest house in Tibubeneng. She accepted a ride from a motorcyclist, and soon realized he was taking the wrong route.
He stopped on a tree-lined street, lit only on one side, and attacked her. Afterward he drove her to her guest house, but he had kept her phone, saying he needed it for a map app, and never returned it. Police say she is shaken and afraid. The motorcyclist has not been arrested, and officers are still searching for him.
The second report involves an Australian woman at an entertainment venue in Seminyak. She had realized she left her belongings in the women's toilet and asked a security employee to help her get them. He walked her there, and that is where, she alleges, the attack happened. Police say a suspect identified as ABM has been detained, and that the report was acted on immediately.
Two nights, two women, and two men trusted for small favors. Investigators now turn to the search for the motorcyclist, while the wider question of how Bali protects visitors after dark remains open.
Two foreign women have told police in Bali that they were raped within a day of each other, in separate incidents on the island's tourist strip. Police have detained a suspect in one case and are still pursuing the other.
The first report came from a 22-year-old Chinese woman from Chongqing. Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ariasandy said on Thursday, March 26, that she filed her complaint on Tuesday. According to the report, the assault happened around 4am on Monday, on a roadside near Labuansait Beach in Pecatu village, South Kuta district, Badung regency. She was also robbed of her cellphone. Ariasandy said police are investigating both the rape and the theft.
The account in the report begins at a bar in Uluwatu. The woman had been there from about 1am with a female friend from Kazakhstan, and the two drank for several hours. Around 4am the friend decided to return to their guest house in Tibubeneng, North Kuta. The victim at first stayed, then left a few minutes later to follow her. She told police she accepted a ride from a motorcyclist, and that on the way she realized he was taking the wrong route.
Ariasandy relayed her description of where he took her: a street lined with trees and grass, with lighting on only one side. The man attacked her on the roadside. Afterward he took her to her guest house in North Kuta. He had also taken her phone, saying he needed it to run a map app to find the guest house, and he never gave it back. "The victim feels shocked, traumatised and fearful," Ariasandy said. The suspect in this case has not been arrested.
The second alleged rape happened on Tuesday at about 4am at an entertainment venue in Seminyak subdistrict, Kuta district, also in Badung regency. The victim is an Australian woman, and she is alleged to have been raped by a security guard working at the venue.
Bali Police General Crimes Investigation director Sr. Comr. I Gede Adhi Mulyawarman told a press conference at Bali Police headquarters, as quoted by kompas.com, that a suspect identified only as ABM has been detained. He said the victim filed a report with Denpasar Police right away. "We immediately investigated the case and arrested the rapist," he said.
According to Adhi, the woman had gone to the venue after visiting tourist destinations. On her way home she realized she had left her belongings in the women's toilet. She went back and asked the suspect, who was employed there as security staff, for help. He accompanied her to the women's restroom to retrieve her things, and it was there that the alleged attack took place.
The Chinese tourist's case remains open, with police still working to identify and arrest the motorcyclist. Attention will likely turn to that search, and to what safety measures follow in Bali's nightlife areas. (The report was first published by The Jakarta Post/ANN.)
Citazioni salienti
We immediately investigated the case and arrested the rapist.— Sr. Comr. I Gede Adhi Mulyawarman, Bali Police General Crimes Investigation director
The investigation is underway for the rape case, as well as the theft.— Sr. Comr. Ariasandy, Bali police spokesperson
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Crime & Justice