Paranormal perils plague Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara amid fears of black magic

During a recent meeting with the Nusantara Capital Authority in Jakarta, an unnamed representative from the National Cyber and Crypto Agency voiced a rather unexpected concern about the big move. She revealed that she’s terrified of santet – a traditional Indonesian practice involving spells, charms, and dark supernatural forces used to harm others from afar. The official claimed her own husband had previously fallen under a santet curse while deployed to the West Kalimantan provincial capital of Pontianak.

Alimuddin, the Nusantara authority’s deputy head for social, cultural and community empowerment, acknowledged the woman’s fears, saying that santet was indeed a pervasive issue across Indonesia – not just in the capital’s future home of East Kalimantan, but also in Banyuwangi and Banten. In a surprising twist, Alimuddin even confessed that he himself had fallen prey to a santet spell in the past.

“So, it depends on us,” Alimuddin was quoted as saying by local news outlet Detik. “When we’re just being indifferent, we will not be victims [to black magic], and today I can relax.”

“Kalimantan is not like what you imagine, not like what we imagined in the past, when we were afraid to visit it,” Alimuddin insisted.

But the spectre of black magic may yet prove a harder hurdle to overcome for some would-be residents of Nusantara.

Roedy Haryo Widjono, a cultural observer of the Dayak tribes based in Samarinda, confirmed that the practice of santet black magic remains alive and well among the indigenous communities of Borneo, including the areas surrounding the site of Indonesia’s future capital.

The Balik and Paser tribes, who inhabit the Sepaku district encompassing Nusantara’s core government zone, are part of the broader Dayak