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Foreign tourists shamed for petty crimes in Gili Islands
Walk of shame: LS, 28, a Swedish tourist, is forced to walk the walk of shame after being caught stealing shorts at a boutique shop on Gili Trawangan island in West Nusa Tenggara recently
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span class="caption">Walk of shame: LS, 28, a Swedish tourist, is forced to walk the walk of shame after being caught stealing shorts at a boutique shop on Gili Trawangan island in West Nusa Tenggara recently.(Courtesy of the Gili Indah village administration)
A warning for foreign tourists who wish to visit the popular Gili Islands in West Nusa Tenggara: Don’t commit crimes if you can’t to walk the walk of shame.
Even though the islands of Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno have become world class tourist destinations, the locals have decided to retain their customary laws. Anyone who commits a crime, either residents or visitors, will be punished under the traditional law.
Anyone who steals, for instance, will be paraded around the streets with a sign saying “I’m a thief” hung around their neck.
“Recently, a Swedish woman was caught stealing a pair of beach shorts. We paraded her around Gili Trawangan and we asked her to leave the area,” Gili Indah village head M Taufik told The Jakarta Post recently.
Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air are all part of Gili Indah village.
The customary laws were agreed to by the locals through awig-awig, a kind of customary agreement, and have been applied in the area for generations as an expression of local wisdom.
Since 2014, the village administration has implemented a village ordinance that regulates legal sanctions in the area.
“We issued the village law to provide a legal basis for the customary law. This law has been effective in discouraging criminals,” Taufik said.
Last Thursday, LS, the 28-year-old Swedish woman, was forced to walk the walk of shame after being caught stealing from a boutique shop in Gili Trawangan.
She was paraded around the streets of the island while wearing a sign around her neck that read: “I have stolen pants from a boutique shop, do not do what I have done”.
A similar thing happened to an Australian couple, identified as BJ, 26, and TA, 25, who were caught stealing a bicycle from hotel staff in December last year.
“Before being paraded around Gili Trawangan, the couple signed a letter stating that they would not repeat what they had done. Then we asked them to leave Gili Trawangan. We won’t allow them to come back again for the next three years. This punishment applies to both locals and foreigners,” Taufik said.
In addition to stealing, the village law also stipulates sanctions for immoral acts, fights and acts of environmental destruction, including fishing with bombs and destroying coral reefs.
“This has proven to be effective in discouraging perpetrators. Destructive fishing never happened again in Gili waters after the law was implemented. Perpetrators must face the heavy punishment of being paraded around the streets and fined Rp 10 million. We will also burn their boats and tools,” Taufik said.
Insp. I Ketut Artana, the Gili Indah Police chief, confirmed the cases involving the Swedish national and the Australians.
“We told the victims to file a report so that we would have a basis to continue the legal process. However, the victims refused because of the minor losses and because the perpetrators were punished under the customary law.”
Although an effective deterrent, the application of customary law has posed a dilemma for the police.
“The Gili Islands is an international destination. Many tourists ask us, ‘what about the prevailing laws in Indonesia?’” he said.
Baiq Prita, head of the North Lombok Tourism and Culture Agency, said in addition to Gili Indah, many other villages across the five districts in North Lombok still implemented punishments based on customary laws.
“On the one hand, it is a kind of local wisdom that should be preserved. On the other hand, however, it raises questions from foreigners because Gili is a famous tourist destination,” she said.
But Baiq said customary law served a good purpose, namely to maintain security on the islands. “Tourists can also be the victims of crime,” she said.
Destinations in Gili Indah have become popular among travelers worldwide. In low season, the area welcomes around 500 to 700 tourists per day. During high season, starting from July to December, the number of tourists can jump to 2,000 to 3,000 per day.
