Police Confirm Australian Woman Attacked In Bali After Night Out

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Police in Bali have confirmed that an investigation is underway after an Australian tourist was violently attacked after a night out on Friday, 2nd December. According to a local report, the woman, known by her initials RTC, 31, was driven back to the hotel room of a Nigerian man after he had been plying her with alcohol during a date. 

Denpasar police are now investigating the case as a violent assault after RTC reported the situation to the police. The case is highly sensitive, and out of respect for the victim, The Bali Sun will refrain from publishing the graphic nature of the attack. 

What is known is that the RTC had arranged to meet the man who became her attacker on Friday night. Reports suggest that RTC and the man IJS had connected on social media after meeting for the first time on Thursday.

IJS picked RTC up from The Magani Hotel and Spa in Legian at around 6 pm on Friday night. It is believed that they then went for dinner in the Legian area and then moved to another venue to hang out and drink in the Kuta area. 

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Local reports describe how by the time they came to leave, RTC was seriously intoxicated after “having been force-fed a number of bottles of Bintang beer.” It is claimed that IJS told RTC that he would drive her back to her hotel when in fact, he drove her to his accommodation on Jalan Teuku Umar Barat, Denpasar.

Police told reporters that upon getting to his room, IJS told RTC that she could lay on the bed and sober up. A representative from the Denpasar Police suggested to reporters that the attack was premeditated in that IJS plied the victim with alcohol. They have not ruled out whether RTC had her drinks spiked either. 

After the ordeal, RTC is said to have gathered herself and made her escape, managing to arrange a Grab taxi to her hotel at around 1.30 am. She reported the incident to Denpasar Police on Saturday afternoon. The Head of the Public Relations Section of the Denpasar Police, Iptu I Ketut Sukadi, also confirmed that the situation was being taken seriously. He said “What is certain is that once a report has been reported, it will be followed up”. 

Due to the seriousness of the situation, the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Mikael Hutabarat, further confirmed that police were investigating the case. Hutabarat said, “It is true that we have received the report and have followed up on it. The reported party is being sought”.

In October, a British woman in Bali was assaulted by a Balinese man posing as a taxi driver. In a premeditated and frequent crime, the attacker offered a cheap moped taxi ride to a nightclub close to her accommodation after he overheard her decline a more expensive ride. He drove her to a quiet and deserted street in Seminyak and violently attacked her. Police arrested the man in question, and after charging him, he faces up to nine years in prison. 

After this case, a local taxi driver issued a concerned warning to vulnerable travelers in Bali. The driver wished to remain anonymous but said, ‘I warn all the female tourists to be extra cautious. I worry sometimes they are too trusting, thinking that Bali’s streets are always safe.”