Cult rituals at cemetery

FOLLOWERS of a cult group, who came in luxury cars to a burial ground in Sungai Manik, near Teluk Intan in Perak, bathed young virgins over a grave.

The congregation also carried out rituals that involved the use of pulut kuning (saffron glutinous rice), betel leaves and betel nuts as well as an assortment of brass utensils.

Villagers are worried that their presence can have negative implications but have been told by cult followers to stay out of their affairs, Harian Metro reported.

The cult members, who come to the cemetery only about five or six times a year, carry out their rituals over the grave of a well-known village pawang (traditional medicine man).

Bakri Salleh, head of the mosque committee of Masjid Tajul Rahman Pekan Rabu, which maintains the cemetery, said the deviant worship first surfaced 10 years ago.

The cultists, believed to be from outstation, normally drive expensive cars like Mercedes-Benz or Mitsubishi Pajero and usually favour the months of April, September and December, he added.

Bakri, 65, said every time they came, about 20 people, including women, would be involved in the worship at the grave.

Relating an incident in September, he said he and mosque committee secretary Amir Sharifuddin Ashari, 50, advised the followers against carrying out their practice.

“They ignored us and warned us not to interfere,” Bakri said, adding that some of the followers had gone earlier to the mosque to ask for a large quantity of water.

Bakri and the mosque committee had since reported the matter to the Teluk Intan district and Perak state religious affairs departments.

> Utusan Malaysia front-paged a report on the inclination among single professional women to adopt children and consume pills that allow them to lactate.

It quoted Prime Minister’s Department parliamentary secretary Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim as saying that the trend was worrying because it could discourage single women from getting married.

“The negative trend is getting more widespread in major towns and cities including Kuala Lumpur. It should be stopped to ensure the growth of family institutions,” she said.

She expressed concern that such a trend could influence Muslim women who placed career as their top priority and regarded marriage as troublesome.