The Cursed Pond of Shibnagar | The Matua Spirit’s Revenge

The first incident I'm going to tell you about is from the Sylhet region. To be precise, it's not from Sylhet city or Sylhet district, but from Shibnagar village in Gobindaganj Upazila of Sunamganj, a neighboring district of Sylhet. The time of the incident would be around the 1960s, approximately. To be exact, it was before the Liberation War. Considering the various surrounding circumstances, it can be assumed that it was sometime in the 1960s. In this Shibnagar village, there lived a man named Ajkir Ali. He was quite a short-tempered person. He worked in agriculture, and also, in the canals and wetlands around there, he fished. The vast area of Sylhet, including the surrounding districts, has the Surma River flowing through it. Various branches of the Surma River have entered different places. Sunamganj is a haor-dominated area. Besides, in Habiganj too, various branches of the Surma River can be seen. So, in this region, many people fish and do agricultural work. They fish during the rainy season, and when the rainy season ends and the water recedes, they do agricultural work. That's how they live, and they were living that way too. Their house, I mean Ajkir Ali's house, was very big, and there were two ponds in front and behind the house. Actually, fish wouldn't thrive in the pond behind the house, even if you released them. But in the front pond, fish would thrive if you released them, and fish were always available there. And the pond behind the house, the one where fish usually didn't thrive, it wasn't like the water was polluted or anything. The water was as good as any other eight or ten ponds. People used that pond too, they swam in it, and used it for other purposes. There was no problem with that. The only problem was that fish wouldn't thrive in that pond, or if you released fish, they wouldn't be found.

So, once, what did Ajkir Ali do? Since he himself used to fish, he collected some good quality fish spawn from the market. And his intention was to collect these good quality spawn and release them in the pond where fish usually don't thrive. So, he released fish there. For several days, at different times, he collected fish from the market, fresh fish, thinking that these breeds of fish are good, let me release these, which can actually thrive in the pond, something like that.

So, after he released the fish, he also used to feed them in the pond. When he fed them, he noticed something: the fish wouldn't come to eat right away. No, they wouldn't come like that. We see that when food is given in a pond, some fish eat and leave, but that didn't happen in this pond. When he gave the food, he saw that it floated and drifted to the edge of the pond. But the next morning, the food was gone. That means the fish were eating it sometime. He thought, "Okay, I release the food, and the fish eat it, but I never see when they eat. And at night, when the fish are eating in the pond water, there's usually a sound. I don't hear that either." Anyway, he figured they must be eating it sometime, and it's not always that there will be a sound. After quite a few days, when he felt it was time to harvest the fish from the pond, he had an idea of how big the fish might be. He had been feeding them regularly. So, he brought the fishermen with the large nets, the drag nets that are used to pull from one end of the pond to the other to catch the fish. They used such a net to catch the fish, but the strange thing was, what fish were caught in the net? The net contained countless small snakes, frogs, and some small fish like "chang" fish. He was furious. Today, Ali is very angry. He released so many fish, so much money's worth of fish, fed them regularly, so where did the fish go? Where did these snakes come from? Where did so many small snakes come from? He had never seen these snakes floating around before. If there were snakes, they would occasionally be seen around, but that wasn't the case either. The pond seemed quite clean. People have bathed in it, and no one has ever said they felt a snake under their feet. No one has ever said anything like that.

So, he was very surprised. He thought that maybe the snakes were eating the fish while they were still fry, and the food that was being put out, the snakes were probably eating that at night. He dragged the net several times in a row, but the situation was the same. In anger and frustration, at one point, initially, he had released the snakes to one side. After that, they were beaten to death, the frogs were also beaten to death. And what would he do with the *chang* fish when he couldn't even find his expensive fish? He did this about three or four times. Then, those fishermen who had come with the nets were paid their dues and sent away. Then he was thinking, "Okay, where did my fish go? So many fish are gone. Did snakes eat them?" He just couldn't accept this matter in any way. He was quite a short-tempered person anyway, but what could he do now? What was he supposed to do in this situation? He didn't understand what to do. In anger and frustration, the next day, he poisoned the pond. He poisoned it because he thought, "I've killed a few snakes, but there are definitely more. These snakes and frogs are eating my fish, and the food I've been giving them for so long, the snakes are eating that too. I won't keep them anymore." So, he released poison into the pond water. After releasing the poison, it was seen that many small snakes were floating dead, frogs were floating dead, and the small *chang*-like fish were also floating dead. Seeing this, he was quite happy that he had at least been able to eradicate these fish-eaters and food-eaters from the pond. That night, he had a dream. He dreamt of a dark place, where nothing could be seen in the darkness, no form could be discerned.

But a deep voice is telling this present-day Ali, "You poisoned the pond to kill me? How dare you! You will be punished for this. The first punishment will be that little child of yours, the baby boy, I'm going to take him. That will be your first punishment." When he had this dream, it wasn't like he could ask any questions in the dream or hope for anything. After seeing it, he woke up. After waking up, he took the matter very casually.

It was morning, and he went back to sleep, or rather, it was morning. After it was morning, he discussed the matter with his wife. After discussing it with his wife, she said, "It seems like there's a 'Matua Deo' in this pond." In the Sylhet region, or rather, the greater Sylhet region, if there's a spirit in a pond or river, they are called 'Matua Deo'. Sometimes, you see, someone goes swimming in a pond and disappears. A few days later, the body is found. These are mysterious deaths. So, these kinds of things are said to be caused by 'Matua Deo'. Those who cause this are extremely powerful spirits,

who cannot be easily controlled or summoned. It's very difficult to make them appear, only very great spiritual leaders can make them appear. So, his wife says that it seems like there's a 'Matua Deo' in this pond. But this present-day Ali says, "No, my forefathers have been using this pond. They never mentioned the presence of anything like this. So many people swim in this pond, but no one has ever died. This 'Matua Deo' shouldn't be here. Usually, we hear that if there's a 'Matua Deo' like this, these kinds of incidents happen in the pond, but nothing like that has ever happened in this pond. And the snakes ate the fish, and my

fish food was destroyed by snakes." He dismissed it all, thinking, "I think I had a nightmare." The thing is, that morning, the husband and wife had a discussion. Then, this present-day Ali went to work. Around noon, his wife fed their little child, put him to sleep, and was doing some other work.So, after a while, he came home and saw that his child was missing. "Where did he go? Where did he go?" He started searching around, but couldn't find him. He ran to the pond ghat, and there, in the back part of the pond, the pond at the back, he saw his child floating dead. There were signs of injury on his body, finger marks on his neck. It wasn't like other cases where it's said that something took them underwater, demanding something, or that the body would be found at a certain time and then it would float up. His wife went and saw this condition. She started crying and wailing. It was their first child, and such a tragic death. Meanwhile, this Ajker Ali, he had gone to the market. He returned from the market, having been informed. He came back and saw this situation.

Meanwhile, people started saying that there was a "Matua" in this pond. But Ajker Ali still didn't want to believe it was the Matua's doing, because if a Matua is in the pond, it doesn't match its characteristics. But he had a dream, and his child died. So he thought, maybe the child woke up and wandered towards the pond. Despite the pain of losing his child, he was analyzing the situation with logical reasoning. Anyway, his first child died.

The next day, his wife had a dream. In her dream, she saw a dark place, and a figure was visible, but indistinct. In a deep voice, it said to his wife, "I took your first child, but that's not the end. I will kill all your children like this." After saying this, his wife didn't get a chance to say anything in the dream. Then she woke up. She immediately woke up her husband and told him that she had such a dream. Her husband became very worried about the matter, thinking that it must be the Matua's doing. But the characteristics of a Matua didn't match the situation. Anyway, whether it matches or not, since this was happening, he tried to talk to different people, tried to talk to the religious leaders.

So, whenever the topic of Matua comes up, any religious leader or herbalist avoids the subject. They don't want to work with it in any way because working with Matua is supposedly very risky. Even when trying to summon them, sometimes the person trying to summon them gets killed. The Matua doesn't even appear, and the summoner gets killed – no one wants to take that kind of risk. Then, at a good time, in that context of that time, they found a very pious and wise person a little far from their area. So, they approached him, especially this Aajker Ali (Today's Ali), he went and told him everything. After telling him everything, this Aajker Ali noticed one thing: that the religious leader also didn't seem to understand the matter. He said, "Okay, you go, I'll see about it." It was like the religious leader took the matter to the level of ordinary jinn. He didn't have much experience with summoning Matua or anything like that, so he didn't give it much importance.

He gave some ordinary incantations or some amulets, saying that they would be alright. But when this Aajker Ali came back home, he again saw that dark environment in a dream. No form was visible, but he heard a deep voice. In that deep voice, it said, "Aajker, there is no forgiveness for what you have done. And you call me Matua in your language. Among all the Matuas in your area, I am the oldest. I have been here for many years, but I don't let anyone know of my presence. Other Matuas drag people into the water and kill them. I never do that. I like to be very secluded. If someone releases fish here, someone will come to catch them, cast a line, and I'll have trouble, so I don't let anyone release fish here. You released fish, and I destroyed them. It's not that I eat fish. And these snakes, these frogs that you killed, they were basically serving me. Even though they weren't jinn, they were serving me."

But you poisoned the fish and then eradicated them from this pond, and as punishment for that, I am killing your son. And I will kill all your future children. This is your punishment. After hearing this, for the first time, this Aajker Ali (Today's Ali) could speak to that figure. He said, "I didn't understand, I made a mistake, please forgive me." Then that figure said, "You didn't actually make a mistake. You are short-tempered, and you showed the anger that I should have had, that I was supposed to have. If someone else was in my place, there would have been much greater damage. I am only saying that I will take your children. Someone else would have finished off you, your wife, and all your descendants, including your brothers and their children. But I didn't do that. I will only take it out on you, through your children. I won't do anything to anyone else." So, in the dream, this Aajker Ali pleaded and begged a lot, but to no avail. Then he wakes up. And in the meantime, another child is born to this Aajker Ali. But a few days after being born, he also dies mysteriously. Meaning, there were no symptoms of illness, nothing. He just suddenly died. Again, in the meantime, that Pir Shaheb (spiritual leader) has summoned Aajker Ali again. When Aajker Ali went to meet him, the Pir Shaheb said, "I have investigated this matter of yours. I tried a lot to summon him, but this Matua (a type of spirit/entity) doesn't appear. For the first time, I have failed to summon a Jinn (spirit). However, my Jinns have contacted him. He is a very old Matua, and although very angry, he has wisdom within him. At my request, he has only communicated his decision on one matter, and he will never deviate from this decision. That is, he will no longer kill your children."

However, after a certain age, your children will become mentally unstable, and there will be no solution. No one but Allah can solve it. After hearing this, Ajker Ali (Today's Ali) sadly leaves. And the strange thing is that after that, Ajker Ali had about seven or eight children, as Shibbir Ahmed Bhai told us. And these children, after reaching a certain age, all became mentally unstable. Among his seven or eight children, four are still alive, who are still mentally unstable. Many people in this Shibnagar village know this house as the Matua house, the Matua Jinn's house, or the Matua madhouse. This problem still exists in that family. The children of Ajker Ali are still living mentally unstable lives. It is truly a tragic matter. We don't want such a thing to happen to anyone. May Allah protect us, and may we never cause such incidents. As a result, Ajker Ali's family, they have suffered less than their children. So, an entire generation is living in a mentally unstable state. Dear listeners, can you imagine what a terrible, unbearable life they have? May Allah protect them and may Allah have mercy on the mind of this Matua so that these children can recover. These children are also very old now because the incident happened in the 60s, and today it is 2024, almost the end of 2024. So, you can understand how long they have suffered and struggled with this issue. May Allah reward them for their suffering, if not in this life, then in the afterlife. And may Allah protect us from such calamities.