Police nab suspects over stabbing case

Kuta Police on Saturday nabbed two suspects allegedly involved in the stabbing of two Australians at a discotheque in Legian, Kuta.

The first suspect, identified as Made J.A., 28, is a security guard at the Bounty discotheque, while the second suspect reportedly was J.A.’s friend, an Australian identified as 28-year-old J.L.

JA surrendered to the police at around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, while Jl. was arrested at a hotel on Jl. Poppies in Legian, Kuta, Police chief Adj. Comr. Gede Ganefo told reporters on Sunday.

“A witness recognized J.A., so we have contacted his friends and relatives, telling them to convince him to surrender. We told them that unless he surrendered immediately, we will take action against him,”

The incident, in which two Australians were stabbed, was apparently due to a misunderstanding, Ganefo said.

It started when J.A. came out of the discotheque’s rest room and accidentally nudged a visitor named Sentana. A hostile verbal exchange between the two men immediately ensued.

J.L. saw the incident and spontaneously approached them to defend J.A. and started a fight with Sentana.

“J.A. tried to help J.L. He took a knife and tried to stab Sentana several times,” Ganefo said, adding that J.A. swung the knife in a chaotic way that failed to inflict dangerous wounds on Sentana.

The knife, however, injured two Australians named Christopher Mete and Jake Benjamin Whitehead, who were standing nearby.

Mete was stabbed in the stomach, while Jake was injured on his right chest.

Sentana was injured on his left hand. Mudarti, who was trying to rescue Sentana, was also injured.

The police seized certain items of evidence, including the suspect’s blood-stained cloth.

However, the police have yet to find the knife.

“The suspect said he threw the knife in an alley beside the Sky Garden [a nearby discotheque]. We have searched for it, but we haven’t found it,” Ganefo said.  

The two suspects would be charged under Criminal Code article 370, which carries a five-year sentence.

As of Sunday, Mete was still hospitalized at Sanglah, while Jake has returned to his home country after being treated at BIMC hospital in Kuta.

The incident was not the first at the Bounty discotheque. In 2009, a New Zealand man died in a brawl involving the discotheque’s employees.