A 31-year-old man’s prized fighting rooster went missing in the middle of the night. By dawn, the man accused of taking it was dead, beaten by a crowd of residents who caught him in the act.
KD, a man from Singaraja, North Bali, was killed by a mob in Banjar Dinas Juwuk Legi, Batunya Village, Baturiti District, Tabanan, on Friday, July 24, 2026, after allegedly being caught stealing a fighting rooster belonging to local resident I Wayan Adi Suteja, 31. His motorbike was also set on fire during the attack.
What Police Say Happened
According to Ni Luh Putu Wiwik Endrayani, Public Relations Chief for Tabanan Police, the mob attack occurred at approximately 1:30am. KD was allegedly caught stealing the rooster when residents confronted him at the scene.
“Residents were angry due to a wave of chicken theft cases in the area, and this led them to attack the suspect until he died at the scene,” Wiwik said on Saturday, July 25, 2026.
Officers from Baturiti Police Sector arrived at approximately 2am, by which point KD was already dead. Police recovered several pieces of evidence at the scene, including the rooster he had allegedly attempted to steal, a machete, and a bag containing pliers, a slingshot, stones, and cash.
Forensic investigators from Tabanan Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit processed the crime scene and collected fingerprint evidence. KD’s body was taken to Semara Ratih General Hospital in Tabanan before being released to his family on Friday afternoon.
Investigation Ongoing
Police say they have questioned several witnesses to reconstruct the full sequence of events and are continuing to investigate the case. According to Wiwik, the underlying cause of the attack was community frustration over a recent wave of poultry theft in the area.
No arrests in connection with the mob attack itself have been announced. It remains unclear whether any of the residents involved in the killing will face charges.
Why This Story Matters
For a man accused of theft, but never formally charged, tried, or convicted, the incident ended not in a courtroom but on the ground of a rice-farming village before sunrise. His family received his body Friday afternoon, without ever hearing his side of what happened that night.