KOTA BHARU: Villagers of Pengkalan Demit, Kubang Kerian, have been left stunned by the presence of what they claim is an ‘orang minyak’, who has been terrorising the village for about a month.
An ‘orang minyak’, in Malay superstition, refers to a person who dabbles in the dark arts in order to gain powers to commit misdeeds. He is often portrayed to be nude, glistening in oil and is able to move around mostly undetected thanks to supernatural powers.
The latest incident occurred at 9am today, when a 17-year-old girl claimed she was attacked by an ‘orang minyak’ as she was hanging up laundry in the backyard of her family’s home.
The girl claimed that she was strangled, with her hands, feet and waist bound. There were also grease marks on her neck and feet.
The girl, Nik Anis Ashira Kamarulzaman, claimed that as she was hanging up the clothes, she was grabbed by someone from behind and forcibly brought into the living room.
“I felt as if I was under a spell; I didn’t know who this person was. I only realised what was happening when I felt the person’s hands clutched around my neck. My hands, feet and waist were also tied up.
“I couldn’t breathe due to the rope knotted tightly around my waist. I could only cry and scream for help before the person fled through the kitchen window,” she claimed when met at her home today.
Nik Anis Ashira said her neighbour came to her aid and freed her. The neighbour also alerted her father and younger brother, who were having breakfast at a nearby shop.
Meanwhile, her father, Kamarulzaman Mat Yunus, 44, said their family home had been the target of the ‘orang minyak’ for over a month.
“The villagers have been staying up at night, set up perimeters and conducted ‘sembahyang hajat’, but the disturbances remain.
“Four houses in the village have been pelted by rocks, shattering the windows in the process. Some villagers claimed to have seen this ‘orang minyak’ but any attempts to catch this thing has been unsuccessful,” he said.
It is understood that the victim is in the process of lodging a police report on the case.