This is another strange story. It comes from Jakarta (I believe). An Indonesian man, Abah Grandong, allegedly ate a cat (presumed domestic) on video published on Facebook which went viral and he did it because he believed in a black magic (Banten) ritual called ‘debus’. In this ritual it is believed that eating cats makes the person invincible. If this is true it appears that the supersitions of the Middle Ages in Europe are alive and well in Asia. It certainly rings true and in China they believe that tiger body parts empowers individuals and cooked domestic cat fends off arthritis.
‘As the video created unrest among the Indonesian public, we apologize to the Indonesian people. The [cat eating] attraction is a Banten ritual called debus.’ – Grandong
Grandong handed himself into police a week after the issue came to the notice of the police. He has given various stories (including the one above) as to why he ate the cat which I presume was cooked by him but it is not clear – update: the cat was alive when he/she was eaten by this man. That is the report and it seems crazy and unlikely.
He also said he was annoyed when trying to evict sellers at a market. It is said that he become enraged and ate the cat. Weird story. A third version is that he said he thought he was eating rabbit.
He has been charged with animal abuse and may be sentenced to nine months in jail on conviction. This clearly indicates that eating cats is illegal in Indonesia which surprises me because in various Asian countries it is not illegal e.g. in China and Vietnam.
He will undergo a mental health assessment at the National Police Hospital in East Jakarta.
Jakarta is Indonesia’s capital.
Source: Daily Mail online and the Jakarta Post online. The video was on Facebook account Putar Video but I can’t see it now.
