Tourist gatecrashes sacred temple performance in Bali, strips naked during ceremony

The authorities in Bali, Indonesia, have arrested a German tourist who gatecrashed a sacred temple performance and stripped naked during the ceremony.

On Monday (May 22), Darja Tuschinski was reportedly denied a ticket to the show at the Saraswati Ubud Temple, according to several news outlets, including Kompas.com.

The 28-year-old is then said to have pushed past security to enter the performance space before removing her clothes.

In a video widely circulated online, the woman is seen walking past a group of dancers on stage before she forcefully opens a large set of gilded doors.

After being confronted by a local man, Ms Tuschinski walks off the stage to kneel next to a shrine as if in prayer.

She eventually returned to the stage as the audience looked on in shock.

Security staff finally detained her for disrupting the performance and handed her over to the police in the Ubud district.

She was questioned at the police station before being taken to a hospital for physical and psychological assessments.

The police have also conducted drug and alcohol tests on Ms Tuschinski but have not yet made the results public.

The temple's staff, meanwhile, apologised to visitors and performed a ritual to remove the "bad energy" from the area as a result of the naked rampage.

The authorities believe Ms Tuschinski had been struggling with her finances and became stressed when she could not get hold of a ticket for the show.

She faces up to two years and eight months in prison if found guilty of breaking the country's public indecency laws.

Bali has long been a popular resort island with global tourists. But in recent years, many Indonesians have called some of them out for unruly behaviour, and officials are prepared to get tough.

In early April, a Russian tourist was deported after posting a photograph of himself naked from the waist down on Mount Agung.

The mountain is Bali's highest peak, and the island's Hindus believe it to be the home of their gods.

In March, the island's authorities said foreign tourists would not be allowed to use motorcycles to get around Bali, following a string of accidents that led to injuries and even deaths.

The authorities said foreigners would be allowed to use only modes of transport prepared by tourism services that meet certain standards.

In the same month, 47 foreigners were deported for misusing their visas to work. They had violated their stay conditions and misused the residence permit, according to local officials.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.