This is a true story of a midwife who kept a ghost known as Hantu Penanggal. For those who do not know, Hantu Penanggal is actually a ghost with just the head and the insides of the body i.e. intestines floating in the air.

This story happened to one next door neighbour at the kampung in the early 70s.

My neighbour was having labor pain and not having enough time to go to the hospital, called the midwife. She gave birth to a healthy baby (forgot if it’s a boy/girl). Before she left, the neighbour said, don’t worry if there is a black cat entering the house at night cos the cat is keeping an eye on the baby. But the truth is, the cat is not looking after the baby but vying for it.

On that fateful night, a black cat did enter the house. However, heeding what the midwife told her, my neighbour just ignored the cat and slept. Around midnight, my neighbour as well as my parents heard a loud thud on the roof followed by a deep scratching. Thinking it was a rat, they ignored the sound. My neighbour looked around and saw that the black cat was gone. Though curious as to how a cat could have just gone missing in a fully locked house, she just went back to sleep.

The next morning, she saw that her baby was blue all over and 2 marks were found on its neck. She called the midwife and when she came, the midwife just smiled. She told my neighbour that it was fated. Since that day, nobody trusted the midwife and each time she came to our kampung, everyone will call their children in and locked the doors and windows. She will call everyone out and asking why nobody want to call or talk to her anymore. But everyone just kept quiet till she left.

Just before she passed away, she tried to pass that Penanggal to my auntie but was unsuccessful. She died very tragically and my mum said her face was scary to look at. I can’t and don’t want to imagine how a person who is in cahoots with the dark side died. It must be tort