Burn The Mosque For Hateing Women For Prayers, RD Recidivist Arrested

Illustration of criminals arrested (VOI)

A man with the initials RD (47) from West Sulawesi was desperate to burn inside the Syuhada Maccini Baji Mosque, Lau District, Maros Regency, South Sulawesi because he did not like women praying at the mosque.

Maros Police Satreskrim officers have arrested RD, who is a recidivist of the same case. The man was apparently sentenced to prison for burning the mosque cupboard in West Sulawesi in 2021. He thought women should not pray at the mosque.

"The job is the driver," said Maros Police Chief AKBP Douglas Mahendrajaya in his statement, Friday, October 3.

RD was arrested after burning the cloth dividing the staff of the female congregation and a cupboard containing women's prayer equipment at the Syuhada Maccini Baji Mosque, Maros on Monday (16/9/2025).

The action was caught on CCTV cameras. In the video, it can be seen that he was wearing a robe and mask while burning inside the mosque. Armed with the footage, the police managed to catch him while praying at the Almarkaz Mosque, Maros, after 14 days of searching.

From the results of the examination, said Douglas, it turned out that RD had set fire to a cupboard containing women's prayer equipment three times inside the mosque.

Apart from the Syuhada Maros Mosque, he has also carried out similar actions at the Mujahidin Mosque, Biringkanaya Sub-district, Makassar City and Syuhada Mosque 45, Mandalle District, Pangkep Regency, South Sulawesi.

The motive for the perpetrator burning women's prayer equipment stored in the mosque cupboard was because for her women were not allowed to pray at the mosque.

"We are only investigating the criminal act process. So that is the understanding of the person concerned," said Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of Maros Police, Iptu Ridwan.

The police have confiscated a number of evidences of the remains of the arson inside the mosque carried out by RD.

For his actions, RD was charged with Article 187 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code with a threat of 12 years in prison.