A DAY after the celebration of the Nyepi (Hindu Day of Silence) holiday, I Gusti Putu Adi Kusuma planned to hold a religious rite for his mother, who died on March 21. He drove from his home in Banjar Dinas Dauh Pura hamlet, Panji village, Buleleng, Bali, to look for a religious paraphernalia store outside the village, on Thursday, March 26.

The village roads were deserted. The pecalang or customary security guards in Bali had closed many r