Dutchwoman Claims Kuntilanak Encounter in Java, Unexpected Reaction

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Nusantara ghosts such as pocong, kuntilanak, tuyul and others are characteristic of Indonesian cultural beliefs. However, Dutchwoman Augusta de Wit claimed to have encountered a kuntilanak.

De Wit stated she met the kuntilanak during her visit to Java in 1894 and recounted the experience in her book ‘Java, Fact and Fancies’. Regardless of the story’s veracity, de Wit’s testimony highlights how Europeans documented encounters with Nusantara spirits.

How did it unfold?

She first described seeing a kuntilanak sitting on a tree branch, laughing loudly. The piercing sound, de Wit noted, shattered the silence. Upon seeing its face, she testified the kuntilanak was exceptionally beautiful.

‘Her countenance was more beautiful than a love goddess’s bride,’ wrote de Wit.

Yet, the kuntilanak did not merely sit and laugh; it preyed upon men as a means to experience the love it had long yearned for. According to de Wit, the kuntilanak’s existence stems from the soul of a virgin who was never kissed by her lover.

‘She cannot rest because she has never known love. And she will claim it, not through goodness, but through deadly malice,’ the Dutchwoman explained.

De Wit described how the kuntilanak lured men through song, softly singing while combing her long hair on tree branches. This activity aimed to entice young men into embracing her. When the kuntilanak acted, the young men became blinded by desire and dared to embrace her.

‘But when the young man embraces her, he feels a gaping wound on his back, hidden beneath the long hair,’ de Wit recounted.

At that moment, the young man’s fate was sealed. De Wit described how he could not escape the kuntilanak’s embrace; in terror, she cursed him to die. Before dawn, the young man perished. However, de Wit also revealed a survival tactic: if a man was cunning and brave enough to pluck a strand of the kuntilanak’s hair, he would live a long, prosperous, respected, and happy life. In fact, such a man later became a king’s son-in-law and father to princes.

The story told by Augusta de Wit resembles horror film narratives. For those sceptical of kuntilanak’s existence, delving into the origins of this female ghost myth, as German researchers have done, may be of interest.