Child sacrifice rumors upset residents

Child sacrifice rumors upset residents

PONOROGO, East Java: Rumors that 200 children below the age of
10 will be sacrificed to guarantee the successful construction of
the Java-Madura bridge are making the rounds in several East Java
regencies.

Life in Ponorogo, some 200 kilometers from Surabaya, has been
disrupted by the rumors.

Worried residents, particularly mothers, in the subdistricts
of Sawoo, Badengan, Sambit and Jambon are accompanying their
children to and from school.

Outsiders who enter the subdistricts in vans are closely
watched by locals, who fear the strangers could kidnap their
children, kill them and take their heads.

Some villagers say the kidnappers are rumored to take the
heads of their victims and leave behind Rp 6 million.

"I have no idea where the rumors came from. But I have been
watching my child at his school and prohibiting him from playing
outside the school until class is over," said Riawati, a young
mother.

There have been no reports of the bodies of headless children
being found in Ponorogo or other regencies. --Antara