Bali police have not found man who attacked tourist on beach

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Bali police have confirmed to the press that they have still not tracked down the man who attacked British tourists in Canggu last Wednesday evening.

The attacker is said to have hit the young woman on the head. There was apparently no prior contact or argument between the attacker and the victim.

Police told reporters that a British tourist was attacked with a paramedic at Kayu Putih Beach in Canggu on Wednesday evening.

The police report and the video footage posted on the Internet show that the young woman was attacked from behind and hit on the head with what was believed to be a wooden block; she suffered head injuries.

Not only was the paramedic brutally attacked, her camera, worth an alleged 31,000,000 IDR, was subsequently stolen.

However, police have said they are still working to find the man in question. CCTV footage from the wider area has been reviewed, but is limited at the crime scene and no useful clues have been found.

Speaking to reporters, Badung Police Public Relations Officer Ipda I Putu Sukarma said: “The perpetrator is still being investigated by the North Kuta Police. This is taking into account the fact that no CCTV was found at the crime scene, and this is a problem.”

He added: “The victim does not remember much and does not even recognize the face of the perpetrator, whether he is from abroad or from the area. However, we have interviewed witnesses who point to the perpetrator.”

Sukarma explained: “The victim’s missing item was a black Canon G7X camera. The loss amounted to approximately IDR 31 million.”

Sukarma has confirmed the sequence of events that led to the attack, hoping the public has more information to share.

He confirmed that the paramedic was travelling from Batu Bolong towards Kayu Putih in the Canggu Beach area on Wednesday, June 26. The couple was attacked from behind at around 7.30pm.

Sukarama said: “Fortunately, the wound was not life-threatening. It was a small wound on the back of the head caused by a blunt object, but it was bleeding a lot. It was given medical attention.”

As shocking as this case sounds, it is not the first of its kind. More and more people are speaking out and there is growing anecdotal evidence that the mood towards tourists in Bali has changed over the last 6-12 months.

Online community forums in Bali are increasingly sharing anonymously posted stories of incidents in which tourists on the island – particularly in busy tourist resorts – have been attacked, nearly attacked or threatened.

The police are aware of this and have decided to increase the blue light patrols in areas such as Canggu.

North Kuta Police Chief AKP Muhammad Disky Fernandez has told reporters that he and his teams will continue to conduct blue light patrols on Saturday nights for the foreseeable future. However, many people believe that such patrols should be conducted more frequently as there is currently little evidence that weekend nights are riskier than weekdays.

AKP Fernandez told reporters: “We expect disruptions to public safety and order by extending the blue light patrols until the early hours of the morning. We want to ensure that there are no criminal acts within the jurisdiction of the North Kuta police that could disturb the peace of the people.”

As the number of reports of foreigners misbehaving in Bali and disrespecting local culture increases, some long-term and regular Bali tourists have noted an increasing hostility towards foreigners.

Politicians such as Andry Wibowo of the Ministry of Politics, Law and Security point out that there is a “pathology of criminality” among some foreigners visiting Bali. There are fears that this climate of hostility between certain groups of foreigners and locals could worsen.