Indonesian Police Dismisses Rumors of Cults Behind the Deaths of the Kalideres Family

JAKARTADAILY.ID – The discovery of four decaying bodies belonging to a family in an apartment in Kalideres, West Jakarta puzzled investigators but sparked the somewhat morbid imagination of the public.

Various theories and speculations are making the rounds on Indonesian cyberspace regarding the cause of death of a family in the Citra Garden City apartment complex.

“It can be said for now that starvation is not the cause of death of the family,” said the police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Endra Zulpan as quoted by Tempo in Jakarta, Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

Rumors have also been swirling about a possible connection to a cult due to some books being discovered at the location, which the police swiftly denied.

"There were no cults (involved). There are books, but there are none (regarding) cults. We are still investigating, it's an ordinary book," said the Head of the General Criminal Investigation Unit of the West Jakarta Metro Police, Police Commissioner Adjutant Avrilendy on Monday, November 14, 2022.

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The books were found when Investigators from the West Jakarta Metro Police conducted a crime scene investigation. Avrilendy stressed that the books had nothing to do with cults.

Another piece of evidence secured at the crime scene is a cell phone. Avrilendy said that the cell phone found was currently being examined at the National Police Forensic Laboratory.

However, he did not specify how many cell phones were secured from the crime scene and the contents of the cell phones because he was still waiting for the results of examinations in the laboratory.

"I haven't seen the HP (cellphone). We haven't received the results yet," he said.

Up till now, the Directorate General Crime Polda Metro Jaya Police has not been able to submit autopsy results regarding the discovery of four bodies in a family.

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Police said this is because the forensic medical team still needs time to analyze the organs of the victims before a conclusion can be drawn on the cause of death.

Previously, Tempo reported that Kalideres residents were shocked by the discovery of four dead family members in their house which was locked from the inside on Thursday evening, November 10.