Sacred Hindu observance violated and revered religious traditions denigrated by Swiss tourist in Bali, Indonesia
Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia 
18 March, 2026
Case Summary
In Bali, Indonesia, Hindu religious sentiments were hurt after a 26-year-old Swiss tourist, Luzian Andrin Zgraggen, deliberately violated the sacred Hindu observance of Nyepi. He also made derogatory remarks about the revered Hindu tradition on social media. His actions later resulted in his arrest, trial and a one-year prison sentence. Nyepi, also known as the Day of Silence, is the Balinese Hindu New Year observance. It is marked by 24 hours of silence, fasting, meditation and self-reflection. During Nyepi, public activity across Bali largely shut down. Residents and visitors are required to remain inside their homes or accommodation, except in emergencies. Streets and beaches remain empty, while work and entertainment are suspended. Lights are turned off or restricted, internet access is curtailed, and Bali’s international airport is closed. Special patrols operate to ensure that the restrictions are observed. The rules apply to everyone on the island, including foreign tourists, irrespective of religion or nationality. Local residents also store groceries in advance so that they do not need to leave their homes during the observance. According to reports, Zgraggen arrived in Bali in February 2026. Before Nyepi, staff at the villa where he was staying explicitly informed him about the restrictions applicable during the Hindu observance. Despite being informed, he left his accommodation during Nyepi and walked to a beach. In doing so, he deliberately violated the restrictions associated with the sacred Hindu observance. Zgraggen filmed himself while outside and uploaded multiple clips to Instagram. In one of the videos, he said that he had reached the beach without being caught. He added that it was completely dark and that nobody was there before describing the situation as “crazy”. He also posted the message, “Fu*k Nyepi and fu*k your rules too,” directly insulting the sacred Hindu observance and the rules associated with it. Nyepi was observed on 19 March 2026. Zgraggen’s videos and posts triggered widespread anger among Balinese residents, following which complaints were made to the authorities. Police subsequently traced him to a villa in Legian, near Kuta Beach. He was arrested in March 2026. Even after his conduct came under scrutiny, Balinese senator Niluh Djelantik confronted Zgraggen over his actions and his attitude towards the Hindu observance. During the confrontation, Djelantik told him, “Today you insulted Hindus.” Zgraggen responded that he still did not like the rule preventing people from going outside. Djelantik reminded him that Bali was not his home and told him that he did not need to visit if he considered the restrictions unfair. She warned him that she would seek to ensure that he would not be allowed to return to Bali or Indonesia. She also emphasised that Nyepi was the one day of the year when Balinese Hindus observed silence and self-restraint. Zgraggen responded that he was prepared to apologise for his comments at the police station. Djelantik, however, continued to press for action against him. She also warned foreign tourists that violations of the rules could result in deportation, blacklisting and being barred from entering Bali. The case subsequently went to trial before the Denpasar District Court. During the proceedings, Zgraggen apologised to the Balinese Hindus for disrespecting their religious traditions. He told the court that he had made the video out of frustration because he was supposedly hungry and could not find food throughout the day. He also said that he did not understand the restrictions associated with Nyepi and expressed regret for his actions. Presiding Judge Tjokorda Putra Budi Pastima rejected his explanation and stated that Zgraggen’s actions had hurt the religious feelings of Balinese Hindus and offended them. The court held him accountable for his actions and sentenced him to one year in prison under Indonesia’s new criminal code for insulting a local Hindu tradition. He had already spent five months in pre-trial detention, which was to be deducted from his prison sentence. Following his arrest, Djelantik also posted photographs of Zgraggen in handcuffs and called for criminal proceedings against him. She further demanded his deportation and a lifetime ban on his entry into Indonesia. Explaining her response, Djelantik stated that her actions were intended to uphold the dignity of Indonesia and its people. The case occurred against the backdrop of previous action by Balinese authorities against tourists who violated or disrespected Hindu religious traditions. In 2023, three Russian tourists faced action after dancing and posing disrespectfully at Pengubengan Temple in Besakih. During the first four months of that year, Bali immigration authorities deported 96 foreign nationals for various violations, including incidents involving disrespect towards local Hindu culture. In 2022, a Russian influencer and her husband faced deportation after staging a nude photoshoot involving a sacred tree in Tabanan, while a Canadian actor also faced action after appearing naked at the sacred Mount Batur.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The first primary category selected for this case is: Hate speech against Hindus. The subcategory selected for this case is: Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs, since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus, with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation that cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to be used as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem from inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith; therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The second primary category selected for this case is: Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory selected for this case is: Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith and the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. This case was a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime because the perpetrator desecrated the sanctity of Nyepi, a sacred Hindu religious observance, while also hurling abusive remarks against the revered Hindu tradition. To understand the severity of this violation, it was necessary to understand the religious significance of Nyepi. Nyepi, also known as the Day of Silence, is the Balinese Hindu New Year and is one of the most sacred religious observances followed by the Hindu community in Bali. The day is centred on silence, fasting, meditation, self-reflection, restraint and withdrawal from ordinary worldly activities. Public activity comes to a halt, and people remain indoors, maintain silence and refrain from entertainment and other routine activities as part of the religious discipline associated with the observance. These practices are not merely administrative restrictions or civic regulations; they form an integral part of a deeply revered Hindu tradition with profound spiritual significance for Balinese Hindus. Consequently, deliberately violating these customs and treating the observance with contempt showcased religious hostility towards Hinduism and its adherents. The act of hurling derogatory remarks against Nyepi, including the statement, “Fu*k Nyepi and fu*k your rules too”, showcased the perpetrator’s deep-seated contempt towards a revered Hindu tradition and his complete disregard for the religious sentiments of the Hindu community. His conduct was not limited to expressing dissatisfaction with the supposed inconvenience caused by the observance; he deliberately directed abusive language at Nyepi itself, thereby showing open contempt towards a sacred Hindu practice. By publicly insulting an observance that held profound religious significance for Balinese Hindus, he demonstrated hostility towards the Hindu faith and towards a tradition that the Hindu community held sacred. His words therefore went beyond criticism of a local rule and amounted to religious denigration rooted in hostility towards Hinduism and Hindu religious sentiments. Along with this, it was important to note that the perpetrator did not merely insult Nyepi but also deliberately desecrated the sanctity of the observance by violating its religious customs. During Nyepi, people were required to remain inside their homes or accommodation, maintain silence and suspend ordinary activities, except in cases of emergency. The perpetrator was under no such emergency and had already been informed about these restrictions. Despite this, he deliberately stepped outside, went to the beach, filmed himself and publicly boasted about having violated the observance before making abusive remarks against Nyepi and the Hindu traditions of Bali. This demonstrated that his conduct was not an act of mere mischief, carelessness or an innocent breach of local regulations. His conscious decision to disregard the religious discipline of Nyepi, coupled with his public celebration and mockery of that violation, showed a deliberate disregard for the sanctity of a sacred Hindu observance and reflected religious hostility towards the Hindu faith and its followers. It is also important to recognise that Nyepi is observed only once a year for a defined period of 24 hours. It is therefore misleading to portray it as an ordinary restriction that unnecessarily hampers public life in Bali. The temporary suspension of public activity is itself part of the religious observance and is not imposed independently of its spiritual purpose. Unlike a permanent limitation on movement or public activity, Nyepi represents a specific and limited period during which Balinese Hindus collectively follow sacred disciplines of silence, fasting, meditation and self-restraint. The perpetrator’s deliberate decision to violate these practices, despite knowing that they formed part of a once-a-year Hindu observance, therefore could not reasonably be reduced to opposition to an ordinary inconvenience. His conduct showed a willingness to disregard the sanctity of a sacred Hindu tradition for the sake of his personal preference and then publicly mock the religious rules associated with it. His subsequent explanation that he had acted out of hunger and frustration did not justify his conduct or erase its religious character. He had already been informed about Nyepi and the restrictions associated with it before the observance, including by staff at the villa where he was staying. Even if he had been hungry or frustrated, this did not require him to step outside in violation of the sacred observance, publicly mock his actions or direct abusive language at Nyepi itself. His explanation was also rejected by the court, which held that his conduct had hurt and offended the religious sentiments of Balinese Hindus. His attempt to attribute his actions to frustration therefore did not diminish the deliberate nature of his conduct or conceal the hostility reflected in his desecration of the observance and abuse directed at it. Taken together, his actions demonstrated deep-rooted contempt towards Hinduism and the Hindu community, making this a clear case of a religiously driven hate crime. Overall, since this case meets the parameters of a hate-driven offence, it is being added to the Hinduphobia Tracker’s hate crime database. Disclaimer: In this case, the Hinduphobia Tracker recorded the perpetrator’s religious identity as “Unknown”, as his exact religious identity could not be independently verified.
Case Status
Perpetrator held guilty by court
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
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