Indonesian woman who brought pet dog into mosque faces blasphemy charge, despite possible psychiatric condition
- The woman, who is being held in a police hospital, proclaimed she was Catholic and that her husband was getting married in the mosque
- Her dog later died after being hit by a car and religious leaders have told Muslims, who generally consider dogs to be impure, not to be provoked
A video circulating online in Muslim-majority Indonesia shows the dog running around a mosque in the West Java district of Bogor on the weekend while the woman argues with shocked worshippers. Many Muslims consider dogs to be impure.
In the video, the visibly distressed woman says she is Catholic and claims that her husband will be married in the mosque later that day. She demands an explanation from people in the mosque who apparently have no idea about the purported wedding plans. The dog reportedly later died after being hit by a vehicle.
Blasphemy is a criminal offence in Indonesia with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Rights groups have long called for the law, which is often used to persecute Christians and other religious minorities, to be abolished.
Bogor police chief Andi Mochammad Dicky Pastika said the woman is a blasphemy suspect and an investigation is continuing. He said evidence includes a video recording, testimony from five witnesses and her shoes, which she wore inside the mosque.
“We will bring this case to the court,” Pastika said. “Even if later the results of the psychiatric examination say that she has psychiatric disorders, as referred to in Article 44 of the Criminal Code, let the judge decide it in court.”
