By Marlynda Meraw
KUCHING, May 1: Nestled within the city of Kuching are a myriad of delights, from its culinary treasures to the vibrant community, yet amidst the hustle and bustle, whispers of urban legends add an intriguing layer to its mystique.
One of the most notorious urban legends that haunts the city is the infamous ghost of a woman dressed in a red robe, known as the ‘ghost of Janet’, rumoured to target unfaithful husbands, serving as a spectral agent of justice for their betrayed wives.
According to a fellow 27-year-old Kuchingite, Deana Andrea, the infamous ghost is said to don a red robe as she roams the streets of Kuching.
Her eerie apparition reportedly appears before unsuspecting men, enticing them with her presence.
However, should they succumb to her allure, she is believed to exact revenge on behalf of scorned wives, serving as a chilling reminder of marital infidelity.
“It was quite a famous story, and recently it’s been circling around where a married man is all smitten by this ghost of Janet. He picked her up from the side of the road at midnight and brought her home.
“When his wife returned, she heard noises from the master bedroom. Upon entry, she found her husband to be asleep, but this apparition of a woman dressed in red stood at the edge of the bed and looked at her while smiling from ear-to-ear before slashing her husband’s face,” Deana shrugged as she told the story.
That was the extent of Deana’s narrative, leaving the fate of the husband who encountered Janet’s wrath shrouded in uncertainty.
Deana was first introduced to the tale of the ghost during her high school years, having discovered the tale amidst the whispered exchanges of fellow hostel girls, where sharing spine-chilling ghost stories seemed almost like a rite of passage, a communal bonding experience for newcomers.
Other circulating stories suggest that Janet’s spectral presence extends beyond vengeance against unfaithful husbands as she is rumoured to manifest before unsuspecting individuals, soliciting rides, only to vanish before reaching the destination and leaving behind a lingering foul odour along with peculiar offerings like leaves or hell bank notes.
“I heard that the origin of this spectre comes from a time in the past, where a Chinese nurse named Janet used to work in a hospital when she was still alive.
“She was murdered on her way to work one day and since then, there’s been sightings of her,” she recalled.
While the tale remains as hearsay, Deana, half-jokingly expressed relief in not being a man, jesting that otherwise, she might have been vulnerable to the clutches of Janet the ghost. — DayakDaily
