Paranormal helps woman find remains of husband

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

As relatives scrambled to find the remains of their loved ones among the charred bodies of Mandala aircraft crash victims, before the unidentified bodies were to be sent for mass burial on Wednesday, Eng Ae Hua turned to a paranormal for help.

And just minutes before the 11 a.m. deadline to identify their relatives, Eng Ae Hua, 46, found the remains of her husband, Oei Cekia, 53.

The paranormal, who declined to be named but was a distant relative of the family, was specially brought in from Jakarta for the job.

Without much fuss, and without performing a single ritual, the paranormal went to Adam Malik Hospital where the crash victims' remains were gathered.

Casually, he approached each of the neatly arranged coffins outside the hospital. At each coffin, he would stop and be still for a moment.

Before long, he found Oei Cekia's coffin. Eng Ae Hua and her family, who were at the paranormal's side, immediately opened the coffin and broke into tears.

The mother of two said the paranormal confirmed that the remains inside the coffin were those of her husband after he had conducted a mystical conversation with him. In the conversation, her late husband said that before he boarded the aircraft, he asked his brother-in-law Ai Loan in Medan to look after his children.

Ai Loan, who came along for the identification process, confirmed that Oei Cekia did in fact ask him to look after his children before leaving for Jakarta. He was in Medan to pay homage at his grandmother's grave.

Apart from the mystical conversation, Eng Ae Hua also believed that she found her husband upon seeing the remains of his hair, the shape of his forehead and his overall posture.

"I'm sure that I'm not mistaken. I recognize the GT Man underwear he's still wearing," Eng told The Jakarta Post.

Prayers in accordance to Buddhist teachings were held for Oei Cekia at the Adam Malik Hospital before his remains were brought by his family to Angsa Pura Buddhist Temple in Medan on Wednesday and then taken to East Jakarta on Thursday.

Oei's eldest child, Fenny, 22, felt sad upon learning that her father had died in the Monday's crash.

"My father had just returned home after working for three years in Korea. He's only been with us for three weeks and now God has called him," she said.