Indonesian uni lecturer spits at cashier, 21, who called him out for cutting queue, says he felt disrespected

A lecturer from Makassar Islamic University (UIM) in Indonesia has been fired after a viral video of him spitting at a cashier went viral, according to a Dec. 30 news report.

On Dec. 24, the lecturer who has been identified as Amal Said was seen spitting at a 21-year-old supermarket cashier who only wants to be known as N.

CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media, according to Detik.

Cut queue

Speaking to Indonesian media, N said that she noticed Amal had cut in front of two other customers.

When he came forward to the cashier, N said: "Sorry sir, the queue starts from the back. Do start queuing from the back."

She claimed that he immediately scolded her, slid the shopping basket on the counter and curtly told her to just scan his groceries.

He threw a tantrum and allegedly accused the cashier of providing poor customer service.

N chose to give in as she didn't want to make a scene and said: "Because there was a queue behind you, sir. Sorry, but you should have queued."

Before she could finish what she wanted to say, he spat at her.

He also allegedly threatened to report her to her boss and demanded an apology.

Amal then left the supermarket with his groceries.

Meanwhile, N headed straight to the washroom to wash her face.

She said the incident, which left her with spit on her face, headscarf and uniform, has left her traumatised.

N reported the incident to the police after her family persuaded her to do so.

On Dec. 26, Detik confirmed with the police that a report had been made and it was being investigated.

A "human" reaction

Speaking to the media on Dec. 27, Amal said that her actions were only "human" and that his emotions got the better of him after facing unsatisfactory customer service.

Explaining his point of view, he denied having cut the queue and insisted that he had merely moved to a different counter as he didn't feel other customers were heading to the counter.

"There were five open cashiers. The other customers showed no signs of heading towards the open cashier. Therefore, I made my move. That's not wrong, right?" he said.

He added that N did not protest at first and proceeded to check out his items. However, he grew angry when N questioned his reasons for not following the queue.

Amal said that he felt insulted and was disrespected although he is much older than her. According to him, the spitting was a spontaneous and human reaction that he couldn't control.

"[Her actions] made me emotional. I felt a range of emotions because I was told to [move to another cashier]. I thought to myself, who is this kid to treat me this way. I am an old man, my hair is white."

He clarified that he didn't intend to direct the spit on her face and said he only saw his spit on her clothes, near the abdomen.

Dismissed from university

At a press conference held in UIM on Dec. 29, the university head Muammar Bakry announced the institution's decision to dismiss Amal as the university's associate lecturer.

He said that the decision was made after an internal investigation by the university's discipline committee found that Amal has violated its code of ethics.

Muammar also apologised on behalf of the university and hoped that this would be a learning point for all of them, especially Amal.

With his dismissal from the university, he will be reassigned to the region's Higher Education Service Institution (LLDikti) as a government employee.

When asked about his status as a government employee, head of the region's LLDikti Andi Lukman emphasised that the dismissal of a government employee cannot be done immediately.

"We have to investigate the case first and verify the wrongdoings, assess the penalties, whether it should be light or heavy. We will investigate this."

Top image from TikTok.