Imagine you’re just minding your business. You’re standing on a street with your children when a monkey suddenly runs up to you and grabs your small child. You would definitely be surprised by the sudden attack.
That’s what happened in May 2020, in Tanjungsar Village, Indonesia, when a monkey tried to “kidnap” a young girl after jumping off a motorbike he was riding. He dragged the girl down an alley. Witnesses screamed as they watched the incident. Shocking footage documented the entire terrifying event, and it didn’t take long before social media users reacted to the traumatizing footage.
About The Incident
Monkeys are usually adorable animals. They’re often used for our entertainment, whether in circuses or as street performers. Because they’re sometimes abused and mistreated, it shouldn’t be too surprising they can turn aggressive and violent. That seems to be what happened during this incident in Indonesia.
Filmed from above and shared on Twitter, the footage shows a monkey abandoning a motorbike. He approached a bench, where a woman and three young girls were sitting. Taking them all by surprise, he yanked one of the girls by her dress, causing her to fall off the bench. He then dragged her along with him down an alley.
Thankfully, a man witnessed the scary event and ran to the rescue. He scared the monkey off, and the primate gave up on the girl and ran away. The toddler ran back to her mother, crying from what just happened to her. As a result, the girl suffered abrasions to her forehead. Luckily, that’s all that harmed her.
Social Media Reaction
On Twitter, the alarming video reached 34.7 million users. It also garnered 128,000 likes and it was retweeted 43,000 times. The user @atomified said, “In my over twenty years + in this life, I haven’t seen a crazier video.”
Many Twitter users shared similar comments that the toddler’s mother wasn’t that concerned about the incident. For example, user @gigi_likespizza said, “The mom is just chilling, like ma’am, your baby is getting dragged by a monkey??” In addition, user @Smook_Dawg commented, “Nobody jumped up to grab the baby though! That’s what’s really beyond me.”
Coming Up With A Good Theory
The video was also shared on Reddit, where it received over 3,000 comments. One person noticed that a collar or rope was wrapped around the monkey’s neck. The user added that they think the monkey was trained to ride on the tiny motorbike. This started a deep conversation on theories about the video. Many people don’t think the monkey was legitimately trying to kidnap the child. Instead, the person owning the monkey trained the monkey to ride the motorbike and the child was mistakenly in the middle of the act.
User herptydurr commented, “I don’t think the monkey was actually trying to kidnap the kid. The monkey is on some kind of leash. When it attacks/grabs the kid, whoever is holding onto the monkey is the one yanking the monkey back…The kid goes along with the monkey because the monkey grabs onto the baby.”
After rewatching the clip, other users noticed that the monkey is, in fact, attached to a cord. The owner yanks the monkey back towards him, and the monkey hangs onto the child for safety. The monkey isn’t trying to pull the kid with him. He’s simply trying to grab onto something so he doesn’t get pulled away.
While a definitive explanation of the video and the circumstances surrounding it hasn’t been made public (and perhaps never will be), social media users came to their own conclusion: The monkey is innocent. He is another victim of animal abuse, and the case should be investigated further. Ultimately, the toddler is safe and healthy, and that’s all that matters.