School's Testimony Regarding Student Found Dead at Kampung Gajah
Bandung, CNN Indonesia – A student with the initials ZAA was found dead by a horror content creator at the former Kampung Gajah tourist attraction in West Bandung, West Java. The SMPN 26 Bandung student had previously been reported missing by the family.
SMPN 26 Bandung Principal Titin Suprihatin said the victim was known to have still attended classes on Monday (9/2). However, the following day the victim did not come to school.
On Tuesday (10/2), Titin said, the student’s aunt notified the school to excuse the absence. The family explained that the student had not returned home, claiming to be staying overnight at a friend’s house. However, the family did not know where the student was staying.
Then on Wednesday (11/2), with still no news, the family and school searched for the victim’s whereabouts. However, no information about the victim could be found.
Then on Friday evening (13/2), social media was abuzz with news of a body being found at Kampung Gajah. Although it was still only suspected, Titin coordinated with police to confirm whether the body was her student or not.
“After confirmation, it turned out to indeed be my student,” Titin told reporters on Saturday (14/2).
To Titin’s knowledge, her student’s body has not yet been released to the family as it is still awaiting autopsy procedures. Reportedly, after the autopsy is completed, the student’s remains will be buried in Garut.
“They said this afternoon, but the burial will be in Garut from what I’ve been told. Earlier I happened to go to ZAA’s house together with the village head. The village head had already brought an ambulance, but it turned out the body hadn’t been released yet,” she said.
She explained that ZAA’s mother had passed away when the student was in fifth grade of elementary school. Meanwhile, the father is known to be ill.
Previously, a content creator who was doing a TikTok livestream at Kampung Gajah discovered the body of a teenager on Friday evening (13/2) at around 8:45 PM. At the time, the witness who found the victim’s body was creating horror content. However, during the content creation, the witness discovered a body lying within the abandoned tourist attraction.
“That’s correct, last night there was a report about the discovery of a body,” said Cimahi Police Chief AKBP Niko N. Adi Putra when contacted by reporters on Saturday.
Niko was unable to provide further details about the discovery. His team is conducting an investigation and awaiting the autopsy results currently being carried out at the Police Hospital, Sartika Asih, Bandung City.
Based on information gathered by reporters, signs of violence were found on the victim’s body, including a stab wound on the abdomen.
To date, police are still conducting a series of investigations to determine the cause of the victim’s death.