Story At Night's
Reply Kuntilanak Revenge

Jakarta tempo used to be a beautiful village, full of large and shady trees. A mystical story takes place in the Senayan area, South Jakarta. The story of a mother who died in an old pregnancy and her spirit transformed into a kuntilanak figure.

Kuntilanak figure is now a prima donna in soap operas and films on the big screen. In cinematography, the kuntilanak is generally described as a curious spirit figure who takes revenge on people who had harmed him while he was still alive as a human being. Whether coincidental or not, the events that occur in this story are exactly like the story in the film, which is about a kuntilanak figure who wants revenge on those who have harmed him.

The incident has indeed been quite long, namely in the 50s, and took place in the Senayan area, South Jakarta. Please note, in the 50s, Senayan certainly has not become a metropolitan area as it is today. At that time Senayan was a Betawi community village that was still overgrown with large trees. The Betawi people used to grow jackfruit trees, cempedak, rambutan, durian, mangoes and coconuts in their gardens or home pages. So at that time the condition of Senayan was similar to a forest or a mountainous area.

At that time my grandfather and several other family heads from villages in West Java migrated to Senayan. We are actually each other's relatives. My grandfather's house is located on the roadside, because my grandfather opened a furniture store business. Next to the grandfather's shop is a grocery store owned by a Chinese totok who is familiarly called Babah Jangkung.

Babah Jangkung and his family included the wealthy Chinese at that time. Because there are no rivals, the grocery store is very in demand. The buyers are not only residents around, but there are also those who come from far away. Presumably, Babah Jangkung did sell his merchandise at a slightly skewed price, so customers flocked to his large shop.

Meanwhile, behind my grandfather's house lined simple houses belonging to people who are comfortable with us. While the original Betawi house is located some distance away. At that time, almost all Betawi natives each had a large enough land. The size of the house is also large with a typical Betawi building.

One day, a neighbor in the back of the house, a young mother named Ceu Tiyah, contracted malaria. His body shivered, even though it was covered in layers of cloth. Meanwhile, his body temperature increased due to a severe fever. Unfortunately for Ceu Tiyah. She was pregnant for a few months. Because at that time there was no medicine like now, and also because of God's destiny, Ceu Tiyah never recovered from the malaria attack again. She died with the baby in her womb.

A few days later, Uding, the husband of Ceu Tiyah, developed a high fever. What feels strange, Uding's eyeballs are always glaring like a frightened person, and his mouth is always screaming calling the name of his late wife, “Amun Tiyah! Forgive Tiyah!”. Just a day sick, Uding's soul was no longer helped. He died when his eyes widened, like seeing something that scared him. A very strange and mysterious thing, on the neck of the corpse looks like a hand gripped so strong. That's why people think Uding died from being strangled. Could it be the actions of Ceu Tiyah who according to my grandmother's testimony has changed into kuntilanak? To be sure, since Uding's death, the terror of Ceu Tiyah has become more and more.

After her husband died with a trace of giggling around the neck, Uding's gambling friends suffered a similar fate. They first developed a high fever. A few days later he was yelling and his eyes were wide with fear. “Ampun Ceu Tiyah! Forgive Ceu Tiyah!”, that's how it came out of their mouths. Uding's gambling buddies eventually died with the same condition as Ceu Tiyah's husband, there was a trace of a giggle around his neck.

Ceu Tiyah did not stop taking revenge on Babah Jangkung, the owner of the grocery store. Babah Jangkung apparently had berated Ceu Tiyah during his life, because the debt of groceries in his shop did not pay off. Revenge is also done to neighbors who have quarreled with the deceased. Even the enemy child Ceu Tiyah (there are two teenagers) who died suddenly.

For the sake of this mysterious incident, the village people are more convinced that all the deadly terror is an act of revenge from Ceu Tiyah who is said to have been transformed into Kuntilanak. It is common knowledge that Ceu Tiyah with her husband lived in a disharmony. The two husbands were often involved in fights. One reason is because the husband of Ceu Tiyah is a heavy gambler. The money earned as a construction worker is always used for gambling, so the debt to Babah Jangkung is never paid off.

In the early 60s, residents of Senayan were affected by eviction, because in the area it will be built the Gelora Bung Karno complex in the framework of the Asian Games. The first to be evicted was a public burial ground located just a few dozen meters from where we lived. Each grave was excavated and the bones were transferred to the Blok P cemetery, Kebayoran Baru. Now the Blok P cemetery is no longer there, because at that location has been built the office building of the Mayor of South Jakarta. Senayan residents who were riled up moved out. Some move around Kebayoran Baru, some to Simprug and some to Tebet. My grandfather moved to Tebet.

Since the eviction, the deadly terror of Ceu Tiyah has never happened again. His children who became orphans returned home all of them.