JB Woman “Ghost” Runs Onto Road to Scare Drivers & Extort Money; Gets Arrested by Police

For weeks, residents of Jalan Austin Heights Utama in Johor Bahru (JB) reported ghost sightings on the roads.

The encounters in July this year featured a short female ghost with wild hair running out fearlessly at cars on the road.

Since it’s the Seventh Month, the footage alarmed many. A spooky ghost of a woman on the road ambushing late-night drivers is like something right out of Incredible Tales, except without the bad special effects.

JB Woman Pretends to be Ghost to Scare Drivers

On 18 August, however, the local police revealed that they had arrested the ghost. You might be thinking, “Wah, when did JB police get a ghostbusting division?”

It turned out that the “ghost” was actually a 31-year-old homeless JB woman pretending to be a phantom, reported the New Straits Times.

With long black hair and loose clothes, the woman looked like she was doing a Sadako cosplay, no doubt startling any drivers on the road.

To their horror, the “ghost” would then kick their vehicle and pretend to be injured. When they checked on her, she would demand money for the accident.

The worst kind of spirit to meet: the money scammer. It would probably have been better if she just tore out their heart like a pontianak.

After a viral video on 27 July was sent to the JB police, they began to conduct patrols to arrest the spooky suspicious scamming spirit.

However, she proved as slippery as a real spectre, quickly fleeing the police before they could catch her. I guess you could say she ghosted them.

Officers also mentioned she would make “eerie noises” during her haunts.

Police Believe Woman Has Mental Health Issues

Finally, on 17 August at 10:51 pm, the police managed to apprehend her. Urine tests indicated no signs of drugs in her system, but a search of her medical records found that she had previously been admitted to a hospital for depression.

As such, police currently believe she is suffering from mental health issues and had her referred to a hospital for examination.

Photos after her arrest showed her looking dishevelled and messy, a pity-inducing appearance. Hopefully, she can get the help she needs.

They also found that she had a previous criminal record under Section 448 of the Penal Code, which deals with house-trespass.

The ghost case would meanwhile be investigated under Section 186 of the Penal Code for voluntarily obstructing a public servant’s duties, presumably for running away constantly.

It would also be handled under Section 79(2) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for failure to conform with traffic signs.

As pretending to be a ghost is not technically illegal, she didn’t get investigated for that.

The police urged road users who gave her money to file a police report as well, although no one had come forward yet.

They hoped the arrest would “alleviate public fears” of getting extorted for cash at night by a female ghost.