To urge people to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, “ghosts” roamed the streets of Indonesia. A village in Java island deployed people wrapped in white cloth to scare people and discourage them from leaving their homes.
“Pocong” is an age-old superstition in this village. They are ghostly figures typically wrapped in white shrouds with kohl-rimmed eyes. In Indonesian folklore, “pocong” represents the trapped souls of the dead.
Photo/REUTERS
According to Anjar Pancaningtyas, head of a village youth group that started this initiative to contain the spread of the virus, they wanted to be different and create a deterrent effect because ‘pocong’ are spooky and scary.”
However, the deployment “pocong” initially backfired. Instead of scaring them to stay at home, more villagers are now going out of their houses to get a glimpse of these white figures. With this, they have launched surprise “pocong’ patrols instead, which eventually led to people staying at home.
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