‘Fallen angel’ blow-up girl

– Indonesian villagers thought they had been blessed by an angel fallen from heaven when a beautiful doll washed up on a beach, only to discover it was an inflatable sex toy.

Rapidly-spreading reports of a “heavenly offering” and fears of possible social unrest prompted a police investigation.

Detectives, who arrived in the remote spot, soon punctured the theory of divine intervention.

“When our officers arrived, they saw that the ‘ fallen angel’ was just a doll ... It was a sex toy,” local police chief Heru Pramukarno said.

Villager Pardin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, found the doll while fishing off the remote Banggai islands, off Sulawesi, in central Indonesia, police said.

The discovery in early March came a day after a solar eclipse had swept across the area, a deeply spiritual experience in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

This led superstitious locals to believe the two events were linked.

Pardin took the partially inflated doll to his home in Kalupapi village, where it was treated with great reverence.

His mother gave the “angel” a fresh change of clothes and new Muslim headscarf to wear every day and pictures showed it sitting up in a chair and accompanying locals on a boat trip.

Police then decided to investigate, following their concern that the excitement about the “angel” could lead to unrest.

“We heard many stories, such as that the ‘fallen angel’ was crying when she was discovered,” Pramukarno said.

The problem, it seemed, was the remoteness of Kalupapi.

“They have no internet, they don’t know what a sex toy is.”

After investigating, officers confiscated the doll, a move they said was intended to stop false rumours from spreading. – AFP

Jakarta

We heard many stories, such as that the ‘fallen angel’ was crying when she was discovered, but our officers saw that it was just a doll.

Heru Pramukarno Kalupapi local police chief