Police hunt thieves of sacred objects

SEMARAPURA: Klungkung Police are still hunting for the thieves responsible for stealing a temple’s sacred objects.

“We are working around the clock to solve this case,” Dawan Police chief Adj. Comr. Ida Bagus Jata said Monday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The stealing of a temple’s sacred objects is a very emotional issue among Balinese. Temple effigies are viewed as the earthly image of the divine and when an effigy is stolen, the community will usually feel a deep psychological loss. Furthermore, the community will be required to organize a large, and often very expensive, purification ritual to sanctify the temple that had been desecrated by the thieves, as well as to finance the creation of a new effigy.

“The stolen objects are two antique gold bracelets that belong to Paibon Bali Mula temple in Gunaksa village,” Jata added.

The bracelets were kept inside a wooden box at the house of the temple priest, Jro Mangku Kopan.