A cabin steward on a Holland America cruise ship has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated sexual abuse after he confessed to raping, beating, and trying to throw a female passenger off the ship because she called him a "son of a b***h." The American woman, 31, whose name has not been released, was vacationing on the Bare Necessities nudist cruise when 28-year-old Ketut Pujayasa, who is Indonesian, knocked on her cabin door to deliver her breakfast. She called out, "Wait a minute, son of a b***h," and the insult sent Pujayasa into a rage.
Whether something was lost in translation or not isn't very clear, but the cruise worker took great offense to her comment, saying it was offensive to himself and his parents. He told police he considered hitting the young woman on the deck later that day but didn't want to draw attention to himself.
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Instead, he obtained a master key and broke into the woman's cabin that night. He allegedly hit her with a laptop, choked her with a phone cord, and raped her. He admitted to cops that he wanted to throw the woman overboard but became scared because his victim was defending herself by biting him and using a corkscrew to stab him.
The ship docked in Honduras, where the woman was able to seek medical attention. Pujayasa was arrested a few days later in Florida. According to a spokesperson at Holland America, the company is shocked because the crew member had been carefully screened and had no prior criminal record. He has since been fired.
Holy hell. Can you imagine spending time on a cruise ship, where you are encouraged to let down your guard and relax, and then becoming the victim of such a vicious attack because of something you probably said without thinking? She must have been scared out of her mind. If we can take Pujayasa at his word, it seems the only thing that truly saved this woman from an even worse fate was her ability to fight back -- and hard.
What do you think about the details of this incident? Have you ever vacationed alone?
Image via Port of San Diego/Flickr