Jakarta Globe
Pocong Ghost Problem Haunting Community in Indonesia's West Java
A village near the Bogor Institute of Agriculture has a problem with a
ghost with a penchant for stealing televisions, locals have said.
The
pocong, a ghost clad in a white burial shroud, has reportedly been
preying on the village of Dramaga Tengah in West Java, which is home to
more than 150 families, for the past month. But in the past two weeks,
it has begun to steal personal property.
The spate of ghostly
thefts, according to detik.com, prompted about 30 armed villagers to
attempt to lure the pocong out from hiding using a fake pocong —
essentially a man dressed in a shroud who jumps around the village.
“The
people initiated the search for the pocong because many homes reported
they had lost their television sets,” Wawak, one of the villagers, told
the news portal on Wednesday. The operation lasted several hours but
failed to capture any apparition.
In folk mythology,
particularly in Java and Sumatra, a dead person will transform into a
pocong if the bounds of its shroud become untied after the body is
buried. This is related to a Muslim tradition that requires the
deceased to be wrapped in a cloth when they are buried.
Because pocong are completely bound, they can only move around by jumping or flying.
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Avvi
4:39 PM January 16, 2010Listen up you inconsiderate readers, it's called Soft News and it's always a nice change from the seriously depressing issues. Coming from Australia, I find it interesting that there are still communities with such beliefs out there and you're a bunch of tossers for laughing at them.