- VIVAnews/Nurcholis Anhari Lubis
VIVAnews – A home belonging to a journalist at local newsroom Rote Ndao News, Dance Henukh, in Kuli Village, Lobalain Subdistrict, East Nusa Tenggara, was attacked by a group of arsonists on Sunday, Dec 11.
Amidst panic and anxiety, Dance and his wife lost their one-month-old infant, Gino Novitri Henukh.
“My daughter was born on the 5th of November, 2011. During the attack, she got shocked and went into seizure. 30 minutes after, she passed away,” Dance said today.
However, the next day, the riot again returned to the house and burnt it down. Fortunately, Dance and his wife as well as their other kids managed to escape the scene.
The motive behind the attack is not yet revealed. Nonetheless, Dance said it had allegedly to do with his coverage on corrupted fund allocation committed by certain village administrators, “as well as stories on alleged graft on the construction of local transmigration homes.”
Prior to the attack, Dance said a number of people came to him and threatened the man. In addition to setting the house on fire, they said Dance will be murdered.
“The people who came after me on Saturday afternoon said they will burn my house down and kill me as well,” he said.
He filed a report to the police, which in no time deployed a team of officers to his house.
“But when the police returned to their office, the riot launched an attack,” he said.
“Now we have to take refuge. All of our possessions are now turned into ashes,” he said.
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Coverage by: Jemris Fointuna | Kupang
