S’pore nurse accused of stealing, strangling kitten at Bali resort; local police investigating
The kitten was found dead with a cable tie around its neck after it was taken from the resort's office on June 5, 2023. PHOTO: UTAMA VILLA TULAMBEN
Ian Cheng and
Judith Tan
UPDATED
JUN 16, 2023, 10:27 PM SGT
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SINGAPORE – Indonesian police are investigating the alleged killing of a kitten by a Singapore-registered nurse at a dive resort in Bali during his stay in June.
A spokesman for the Utama Villa Tulamben resort confirmed with The Straits Times that the 31-year-old man is now being investigated by Indonesian police for trespassing, theft and animal cruelty after the resort lodged a report on June 6.
It has also contacted the authorities in Singapore regarding the case.
According to a Facebook post by the resort on Thursday, a six-week-old kitten named Monkey was found dead on June 6.
“She had been callously thrown over our resort’s boundary wall in a yellow Prime Supermarket plastic bag, with a cable tie tightened around her neck, suggesting strangulation. This senseless act of cruelty has left us devastated,” the post said.
The resort also separately told ST that Prime Supermarket, where the plastic bag was from, does not operate in Indonesia.
Established in 1984, Prime Supermarket is one of Singapore’s pioneer local supermarket chains. It started with five mini-mart outlets and now has 24 outlets across the island. There is no mention on its website that it operates in other countries.
The man and his companion at the resort were identified by the resort as registered nurses in Singapore, with the man having worked in several healthcare institutions here.
According to the spokesman for the villa, the man works at Sengkang General Hospital (SKH). But the hospital responded in a Facebook post on Thursday, saying that it “takes a serious view of this incident” and that the man in question “is no longer employed at SKH since February 2020”.
“We have also informed the Singapore Nursing Board regarding this inaccurate information. The records have since been corrected,” it added.
A check by ST found that he is not a nurse at any of the other public hospitals under the three healthcare clusters.
The man is also reportedly accredited by several diving organisations as a divemaster, according to information he submitted to the resort before his stay. A divemaster typically assists instructors with classes and leads certified divers on diving trips, according to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors website.
The resort’s dive guide also noted “troubling accounts of his misconduct underwater” during a dive trip the man and his companion embarked on with a group of guests who did not know the duo.
The Straits Times has contacted the diving organisations the man is linked to for more information.
Accompanying the Facebook post, the Utama Villa Tulamben resort identified the man and his companion by linking more than 50 videos from security camera footage across the resort’s 12 cameras, as well as several images of the duo and screengrabs of their particulars.
The resort alleged that its security footage showed the man repeatedly visiting its office several times past midnight on June 5 looking for the kitten.
Following this, at about 10.30am the same day, the man appeared to “forcefully” take the kitten through an office window that he opened, taking it back to his room.
The 31-year-old man is now being investigated by Indonesian police for trespassing, theft and animal cruelty. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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