Suspect in the Death of a Wild Dog in Mataram

JAKARTA - The perpetrator of the lynching of a wild dog to death, with the initials IG (28) in front of the Panca Usaha Street convenience store, Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) was named a suspect.

Head of the Mataram Police Criminal Investigation Unit, AKP I Made Dharma Yulia Putra, said the suspect was threatened for violating Article 337 paragraph (2) of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code.

"As we have applied, Article 337 paragraph (2) of the new Criminal Code, torturing animals to death, is a 1.5-year prison sentence," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, April 10.

In addition to designating IG as a suspect for alleged animal abuse to death, from the results of today's trial, the police also named a 65-year-old woman with the initials NLS as a suspect for buying wild dog meat from IG and processing and reselling it in the form of ready-to-eat food.

Dharma explained that his party had named NLS as the second suspect for alleged violations of Article 591 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code with a maximum penalty of four years in prison.

"The assumption of the article that we apply to NLS is related to the transfer of goods from criminal acts," he said.

Based on the determination of suspects from the results of this case, the Mataram Police did not detain because it referred to the KUHAP regarding the threat of a sentence of less than 5 years, no detention was necessary.

"So, we apply mandatory reporting, and the legal process continues," he said.

The Mataram Police dealt with this case following a report from the Animal Lovers Community. They reported after the IG action video abusing the stray dog went viral on social media.

In the 19-second video, the IG from the top of the two-wheeled vehicle is seen hitting a stray dog that was in front of one of the supermarkets on Jalan Panca Usaha, Mataram City.

With one blow using a long iron, the wild dog immediately did not move. The perpetrator in the video seemed calm to transport the wild dog onto the vehicle and take it away.