Bantil admitted to having slept with dozens of his followers’ wives to cleanse their sins. Police suspect that Bantil hypnotized his victims in order to get whatever he wanted.
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Tunggadewa Mattangkilang | December 13, 2012
Kutai Timur, East Kalimantan. Police here have arrested a man who declared himself a prophet of Islam and deceived his followers into giving him money and allowing him to sleep with their wives.
The 48-year-old man, a religious teacher named Bantil, had about 50 followers who lived in their own hamlet, APT Pranoto, in East Kalimantan's Kutai Timur district. His followers called him Syech Muhammad and he claimed to be a prophet, despite the fact that his teachings deviated from Islamic values.
Kutai Timur Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Budi Santoso said on Thursday that followers were told to submit alms to Bantil to be purified of their sins. If they could not afford to, they were obliged to allow him to sleep with their wives as an alternate means of purification.
“We arrested him after receiving a report from a resident,” Budi said. “So far there is only one person who was reported as being deceived by the perpetrator [by giving] Rp 170 million [$17,600] to cleanse his sins. We suspect dozens of the followers’ wives slept with him to be purified. We’re still investigating it.”
Budi said police had collected several pieces of evidence, including ritualistic devices such as a turban, doll, wooden amulet, banknotes, and receipts for followers’ purification payments.
Bantil admitted to having slept with dozens of his followers’ wives to cleanse their sins. Police suspect that Bantil hypnotized his victims in order to get whatever he wanted.
He is charged with Articles 372 and 378 of the Criminal Code, on fraud and embezzlement, respectively.
Police consulted with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and Religious Affairs Ministry about the sect, and those bodies told police that Bantil’s teachings were not in keeping with Islam. Police are still in discussions with them about whether to also charge him with Article 150 on religious defamation.
Bantil began his deviant teachings in 2006. To avoid unwanted questions from locals, he set up a special hamlet for his followers. In 2008, one resident spoke out against the false prophet, but police were unable to charge him due to a lack of evidence.
Read original post here: Fake Islamic Prophet Arrested in East Kalimantan
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"His followers called him Syech Muhammad and he claimed to be a prophet, despite the fact that his teachings deviated from Islamic values."
ReplyDeleteI understand that we did not write this article, but we really need to get our Indonesian Jamaat to investigate this further. I don't like how the word "fact" is used in the allegations concerning what is and is not an Islamic value. We need to get this man a lawyer and as much of what this man is actually teaching in writing, audio or video. I am willing to look over his teachings personally and go over it with his legal council and the Khalifa to see that this man is given a fair trial.