Robbing graves of children in Indonesia: Black magic is popular
Grisly find reveals Indonesia’s fixation with black magic.
Fifteen places of burial had been pilfered, all of them for children. Their remains had vanished.
Two other burial grounds had been robbed. In all, the graves of 24 children had been exhumed on the same night in a co-ordinated action.
Police have yet to make an arrest and the investigation continues, but few are in doubt about the motivation of the grave robbers.
”It was for black magic,” Sapari says. ”Maybe for immunity, or strength … or maybe to make yourself disappear.”
…deceased virgin teenage girls are particularly sought after and ”families have to guard the tomb for 40 days” after burial. In Indramayu in West Java, he says he knows of babies born on an auspicious day in the Javanese calendar being kidnapped and beheaded. ”The heads are buried in the front of the person’s house. They believe, this way, they will become wealthy.”
To be sure, the case of the missing child corpses in East Java is especially grisly, but it speaks of the enduring fascination of Indonesians for the supernatural. There are regular reports of schoolchildren and factory workers going into mass trances and millions of Indonesians visit tombs of holy men and nationalist heroes on auspicious dates, meditating long into the night, hoping for benevolent guidance.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Wow. As typical, it’s difficult for those of us in modern western societies to imagine this. But, it needs to be seen – this article is a revealing look at the popularity of superstitious beliefs. The shamans, or dukuns, say demand for services has never been higher; senior figures from the government, military and police are among the clients. Frightening. There is also mention of the belief in jinns (djinn).
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