DPR Member Highlights Tabanan Mob Killing, Tito Asks: Which Party Does the Regional Head Belong To?

A member of Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) from the PDI Perjuangan faction, Deddy Yevri Sitorus, highlighted the case of a chicken thief who was beaten to death by a mob in Tabanan, Bali. He asked regional governments to share responsibility for ensuring public safety.

Deddy raised the matter during a working meeting of Commission II of the DPR RI with the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Parliamentary Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (30/7/2026). During the meeting, Deddy played several videos of mob attacks that had gone viral on social media, including the case of a man suspected of stealing chickens who died after being beaten by a crowd in Tabanan.

“This was in Tabanan. The story goes that the father had not been home for three days, trying to earn money to buy rice and pay for his children’s schooling. He died pointlessly. The mob treated him like a slaughtered chicken. These officials here — imagine if it were your own child,” he said, as reported by detikNews.

According to Deddy, the incident shows the need for regional governments to be present in preventing vigilante acts. He questioned the role of regional heads when acts of violence that killed residents took place.

“This country was founded on two things, with clear purposes, sir. One of the most important is to protect the whole nation and the entire homeland of Indonesia. Where is the regional government in this matter?” Deddy asked.

“Are we simply going to blame the police and the TNI? The safety of the people is our collective responsibility, sir, especially that of regional heads,” he continued.

Deddy said regional governments had failed, even though public safety should be a priority.

“Here the state has failed, sir. The regional government has failed. The assault went on for hours until he died, and no element of government was present. And that was across three incidents,” he said.

Deddy then asked Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, together with the National Police (Polri), the TNI and regional heads, to sit down together and draw up standard operating procedures (SOPs) for prevention so that similar incidents do not recur.

“Minister, I am asking for your help. Let us draw up SOPs, sir, on how to avoid incidents like this. Regional heads must be the coordinating node, sir, not just the police,” he said.

“I ask the Minister to sit down specifically with regional heads to work this out, sir. With Polri, with the TNI. Enough, sir. There have been four incidents this week alone. People are dying pointlessly — this is supposed to be our state of law,” he continued.

Minister’s response

Responding to the matter, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian said regional heads have the authority to take decisions related to public protection. According to Tito, regional heads can issue various policies binding on their communities and take action in urgent situations in the public interest.

“(Regional heads) propose and enact regional regulations (Perda) together with the regional legislative council (DPRD), and also issue Perkada decrees. They also have the authority to make policies that can bind the public, and to take certain actions in urgent circumstances needed by the community,” he said.

Tito said he had checked which party the Tabanan regional head belonged to, and asked Deddy to help remind regional heads of this responsibility.

“Exactly what was conveyed by Mr Deddy Sitorus. The safety of the community is the highest law. He mentioned the four viral videos earlier, one of which was in Tabanan,” he said.

“But I also ask for Mr Deddy’s help — earlier he asked where the regional head was. And please, forgive me, this is just a joke, sir. I checked earlier: who is the regional head of Tabanan, and which party are they from? Please, sir, remind the person concerned as well,” Tito continued.

Deddy then clarified that the Regent of Tabanan had already provided assistance to the victim’s family. The Regent of Tabanan, I Komang Gede Sanjaya, is known to be a PDIP cadre and chairman of the PDIP branch (DPC) in Tabanan.

“Let me clarify. As soon as I asked, it turned out that immediately after the incident the regent provided compensation, and yesterday they stated they would fund the education of the victim’s child. So I hope other regions will follow suit, like Sinjai and so on, sir,” he said.

“And that becomes part of the regional government’s responsibility, sir, when the family is indeed poor,” Deddy added.

Tito said the regional government’s responsibility should not only be exercised after an incident, but also through prevention efforts.

“Yes, thank you, sir. Thank you for the post-incident action. But as a policeman’s son — I was once a police officer myself — I know that handling a problem is not only about what happens after the incident. It is also about what comes before: preventive measures, such as strengthening community security patrols (Siskamling). Those are things that must be done before an event occurs. But this serves as a reminder for all of us,” he said.