Compiled by C. ARUNO, BENJAMIN LEE and R. ARAVINTHAN
A WOMAN in a long, yellow dress and high heels caused much anxiety after she broke into a temple in Johor Baru and claimed to be a “spirit and not human”, China Press reported.
She climbed over a gate to gain entry into the temple in Bukit Indah between 10pm and midnight on Tuesday.
Once inside, she washed the temple caretaker’s clothes and hung them to dry before placing flowers all over the temple grounds.
The caretaker, who returned later, was surprised to see a woman’s handbag outside his living quarters and that his clothes had been washed and quickly alerted the temple committee.
According to the temple treasurer, five members came immediately and found the woman hiding in the bushes behind the temple.
He told reporters that the woman, who was Indonesian, could converse in English, Malay and Mandarin but was speaking incoherently.
“I am a spirit, not a human! I am already dead! I only came here to see my anak (child),” she reportedly said.
Committee members called the police, who spoke to the woman for two hours before finally persuading her to leave.
The treasurer said the woman did not commit any crime while inside the temple and instead helped with chores. Committee members had even offered her water and fruits.
“However, when a woman enters a temple at night wearing a long dress and keeps telling people she is not a human, it is definitely enough to scare people,” the treasurer said.
He said the caretaker was so shaken by the incident that he refused to sleep at the temple that night.
> A local Internet celebrity in Chongqing, China, sparked a big protest outside his residential complex for allegedly adopting dogs and cats which he later abused and killed, China Press reported.
Police tried to disperse the crowd, which led to confrontations and arrests.
The incident first gained attention online on June 4 when animal welfare activists accused the man of adopting animals under false pretences before torturing and killing them.
A puppy he allegedly adopted was found abandoned and left for dead at the residential complex.
Veterinarians reported that the puppy’s tail had been cut off and its teeth filed down, and it had multiple fractures.
Even though police reports were lodged, the activists were frustrated at a perceived lack of action from authorities.
Under mounting pressure, local police announced that they had launched an investigation.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
