Yogyakarta. Police confirmed on Friday that there was no sectarian issue related to the viral video showing an outdoor Virgin Mary statue covered with tarpaulin in Kulonprogo regency, Yogyakarta.

Internet users speculated that a certain group had forced the owner of the worship place to cover the larger-than-life-size statue during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

But Kulonprogo Police Chief Adjunct Chief Comr. Muharomah Fajarini said the cover was put on at the request of the statue’s owner, following a recent investigation.

She said the worship place in the village of Bumirejo was completed in December 2022 and the family who owns the facility is still in talks with local community members and the Forum for Religions Tolerance (FKUB) about its launch. Until then, the Virgin Mary statue is covered. 

“The initiative to cover the statue is from the owner of the worship place himself,” Muharomah said.

She denied social media speculations that the covering of the statue was an order of a certain organization.

The worship place is owned by Yakobus Sugiarto who resides in Jakarta and is managed by his younger brother Sutarno.

“I put a cover on the Virgin Mary statue at this worship place at the request of my brother Sugiarto who owns this place. It’s not fully completed yet, so we decided to cover the statue,” Sutarno said.

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