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Villagers angered after digging grave for man who faked his death
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Residents of Tanggumung village in Sampang, East Java, show the site where villagers dug a grave for a man, who was pretending to be dead. (Taufiqurrahman/via kompas.com)
I
t was a prank that went too far. A man has caused outrage among hundreds of residents of Tanggumung village in Sampang regency on Madura Island, East Java, after he pretended to be dead, leading to locals digging a grave for him.
The prankster, Robi Anjal, 38, who originally came from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, was discovered to still be alive after his grave had already been dug.
Robi, who was reported to have died on July 23, wrote in his will that he wanted to be buried next to KH Mohammad Alawi, a late local religious leader and father of KH. Fauroq, who leads an Islamic boarding school in the village.
Farouq said Robi was not a relative of his family nor did he know his background. To speed up his burial, residents of the village were asked to put aside their daily activities to dig the grave on Friday morning.
"Farmers didn't water their tobacco plants and residents working out of town also decided not to go to work," said Abdul Halim, one of the residents, as quoted by kompas.com.
The villagers became very mad after learning that Robi had been pretending to be dead. The grave was filled in on Sunday.
Fauroq said he had been suspicious from the beginning, as Robi's body did not show any signs of death and that even after four days, the body did not emit any stench. He said he had also been informed by his students that the body was still warm.
The prank was eventually busted when mourners tickled Robi’s feet, forcing him to turn over and wake from his sleep. The revelation enraged the locals, who condemned the man for trying to fool them and a respected figure in the village.
"If he had been in front of us here, we would've buried half his body so he wouldn't play around with death again," Abdul said. (ars/bbn)
