PDIP to Provide Legal Aid to Family of Man Beaten to Death in Bali Over Alleged Chicken Theft

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) plans to provide legal assistance to the family of a man with the initials KD, who died after being beaten by residents whilst allegedly stealing a chicken in Batunya village, Baturiti district, Tabanan regency, Bali.

“In Bali, we will follow up promptly to provide assistance to the victim,” said PDIP Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto at the party’s central executive board office in Jakarta on Sunday, 26 July 2026.

Bali Regional Police are still investigating the cause of the victim’s death and the alleged criminal acts in the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Friday, 24 July. The incident began when residents caught KD, who was allegedly attempting to make off with a resident’s chicken at around 01.30 Central Indonesia Time.

Residents are then believed to have carried out vigilante violence en masse, resulting in KD’s death at the scene. Police only arrived at 02.00 Central Indonesia Time to secure the crime scene and gather evidence.

Hasto said that the firmness of the law must not only target ordinary people facing economic hardship, while cases of far greater legal violations fail to receive punishments proportionate to their offences.

“There must be no injustice, let alone injustice shown in an extreme manner towards people who may be facing economic hardship due to the considerable challenges of our times. This stands in stark contrast to the process of law enforcement that is taking place,” said Hasto.

From the scene, police secured a chicken, a machete believed to belong to KD, and a bag containing pliers, a slingshot, stones and a sum of cash. Police also recovered a motorbike that had been set alight by the crowd.

Head of the Public Information Sub-Division of the Bali Regional Police’s Public Relations Bureau, Chief Commissioner Rina Isriana Dewi, said the beating was allegedly triggered by residents’ anger over a spate of livestock thefts in recent times. “We urge the public not to take the law into their own hands and to hand over the handling of every suspected criminal act to law enforcement officials,” said Rina in Denpasar on Saturday, 25 July 2026, as quoted by Antara.