The Haunting of Selim Mora

The year was 2018. Tanvir was in ninth grade. Ramadan started, and there wasn't much pressure with studies during Ramadan. He would eat Sehri (pre-dawn meal) and go to sleep, waking up around 10:00 or 11:00 AM. The day the incident happened, it was a Friday. He woke up early, took a bath, washed his clothes, and then went to pray. As soon as he returned home after the Jummah (Friday) prayer, his mother told him that his aunt had called. A prayer meeting and an Iftar (fast-breaking) gathering had been organized at his aunt's house. The prayer meeting would be held before Iftar, of course. So, he decided to take the bike that they had at their house. Their road was a dirt road, and it was quite difficult to drive on such roads. One could manage with a bike, but if it rained, even going by bike was impossible. Tanvir's father worked in the army and couldn't stay home often, naturally. The bike remained at home, but his father had given specific instructions that Tanvir should not be given the bike key unless it was absolutely necessary. Now, since it was Ramadan, and it would be difficult to walk such a distance on an empty stomach while fasting, he was given the bike key. He took the bike and went out. Although it wasn't raining at the time, the sky looked like it might rain. It's necessary to describe the area they were going to a bit. To get to Udhunia, another market, from Mohanpur market, one had to travel about 6 kilometers. The road was a dirt road back then, I'm talking about the context of 2018. If it rained, it would be difficult to walk on that road. Since it wasn't raining at the time, he went out on the bike.

On the road from Mohanpur to Udhunia, there's a village called Panga. The road is paved from Mohanpur to Panga, a distance of three kilometers. The remaining three kilometers to Udhunia is an unpaved, dirt road. About a 10-minute bike ride from Panga, you'll find a three-way intersection. One road goes towards Udhunia, and another goes to a different village. Right in the middle of that three-way intersection, there's a banyan tree. It's said that many people have committed suicide there by hanging themselves from that tree. Apparently, the first person to hang himself was named Selim, and because of that, the place has become known as "Selim Mora" (Selim's Death). Anyway, it's said that various horrific and brutal events have happened there, that people have been brutally murdered in this place called Selim Mora. So, he drove past the banyan tree and arrived at the Udhunia market. Just past the market is a graveyard, and there's a road that runs alongside the graveyard. That's the road he usually takes to get to his aunt's house. Before reaching his aunt's house, the road he'll be taking is a dirt road that runs between rice paddies on both sides, just wide enough to walk. Driving for about 20 to 25 minutes through those rice paddies will get you to his aunt's house. So, he drove straight through the rice paddies on that road. Before arriving at his aunt's house, there's a small market – just a couple of shops, really. The locals might recognize it. He parked the car beside those shops and started walking towards his aunt's house, just a two or three-minute walk.

So, from that shop, you can also see that house. He arrived home around five in the afternoon. Since there was a prayer gathering before Iftar, he came there and finished everything properly. Then, when he was about to leave after the Maghrib prayer and some snacks, his aunt gave him some cooked vegetables in a tiffin box for his mother. When he was about to leave with these, he saw that it had started to drizzle outside. Then his aunt exclaimed, "Are you going by bike? You left the bike there. Now it's about to rain heavily, you won't be able to take the bike. It's better to stay today, no need to go today." But he said that he would leave anyway. Anyway, his aunt didn't insist much because there was a shortage of male members at home. His sister was alone at home, so it was a problem. Considering the safety of her own sister, she didn't insist anymore. So, she told her nephew, "Go ahead, son, if you want to go, go."

Anyway, the bike was parked where he had left it and was wet in the drizzle. He wiped it a little with a cloth, started the bike, and set off. When he was leaving, the Isha prayer call had already ended, and many people were coming to the mosque for Tarawih prayers. The sky was full of clouds, and it was pitch dark all around. When he started traveling on that road, there was no one else but him. As he started on that rural path, only the road was visible in the headlight. On both sides were paddy fields, and he had the tiffin box hanging in a bag on the side handle. There was mud, so thinking that the bike might slip, he was driving slowly.

So, the dirt road had many potholes, big and small. He was driving carefully, trying his best to watch out. Suddenly, one of his car tires got stuck in a hole. He had come quite a distance from the village. He tried so hard to get it out, but the car's rear wheel just wouldn't come out of the hole. The strange thing was, the car wouldn't move even an inch; only the rear wheel was spinning. Meanwhile, the rain was gradually getting heavier. He tried so hard, but the car wouldn't budge. He thought that maybe the mud was causing the car to slip. He got out of the car, thinking that if he gave it a little push, the car might get unstuck. So, that's what he did. He got out of the car, grabbed the handlebar, and as soon as he glanced back, his whole body went cold. He saw something he had never imagined seeing. He saw a short, black, dwarf-like, greedy thing holding onto the carrier behind his car – you know, like the carrier behind a bike – right at the very end of the seat. It was holding on and looking down, not exactly looking at him, but looking at the ground. Suddenly seeing such a sight made him feel like the ground had disappeared from under his feet. How can anyone tolerate such a horrific sight? And he could tell that the hands holding on were covered in hair. That much he understood. He screamed Allah's name and let go of the Honda (bike), trying to move forward. But the road wasn't a normal road where he could quickly escape. It was muddy, like a quilt, due to the rain. He couldn't just run fast, or he would fall flat on his face.

So, he looked back again and saw a strange thing. He saw that he had let go of the bike, but it hadn't fallen to the ground. It was just standing there, perfectly straight, as if someone was holding it. And he noticed one thing: that thing was holding it in the same way, with its hand behind it. But the thing wasn't saying anything to him, nor was it attacking him. He couldn't utter a word either. He was thinking about leaving the bike there and walking away, but he kept looking back. After walking a little further, suddenly that creature raised its head for the first time and looked at him, at Tanvir. Tanvir saw a truly grotesque face. The face was blood-red, and even in the darkness, it was visible. It looked like someone had shone a faint light on its face, which made it clearer. But actually, no one had shone a light, it just seemed that way. The face wasn't very clear, just slightly visible, with that little bit of light seemingly on it. And it seemed like the thing had no nose or ears. Suddenly, it started laughing hideously. Meanwhile, Tanvir had already resigned himself to the fact that he probably wouldn't make it home that day, that today was the last day of his life. He started reciting prayers and tried to turn around and start walking forward again. Suddenly, he saw two people with umbrellas over their heads, walking towards him, talking and holding flashlights. At that moment, he looked back again and saw that his bike had fallen to the ground with a thud. And that dwarf-like thing, it seemed like the way a lizard crawls, on all fours... it seemed like that dwarf-like thing crawled away on all fours, disappearing into the paddy field beside the road.

So, as he was going, there was a rumbling sound. The two men who were coming shone a torchlight on him again. Perhaps they were also startled to see him suddenly, thinking, "Who is this? Some ghost or something? Who's standing in the middle of the road so late at night?" So they came closer and asked, "Hey, who are you? What are you doing here so late?" Then he didn't tell them about his frightening experience. He said, "I was coming from my aunt's house, going to Mohanpur. The bike slipped on the road and I fell." They didn't ask anything else and the two of them lifted his bike. He helped them too. At that time, the bike was completely covered in mud, a real mess. But as soon as he tried to start it, it started on the first try. Then they said, "The road ahead is even more slippery, be careful." Saying this, they left. They were probably going towards a mosque to pray Tarawih. He also bid them farewell and left. He passed Uduniya Bazar and headed straight home. Because of the rain, the road was slippery and he couldn't drive the bike too fast. On top of that, his hands and feet were trembling with fear, but he was slowly moving forward, invoking God's name. When he was passing through the place called Selim Mora, under the banyan tree, he suddenly felt a presence behind his bike. Then the bike gradually started to feel heavy, and the speed decreased. He thought, "Something bad is going to happen to me today." As soon as he passed the banyan tree, his bike started to feel normal again. Everything seemed normal then. Just then, a harsh voice came from behind, speaking in a language he couldn't understand. It sounded like Bengali, but the voice was different. Many people speak in Bengali, but if someone's voice is unusual, it feels like it might be a different language. That's how it felt.

But the phrase was something like, "I'll see you again." After that, he had a hideous smile. His hands and legs were shaking violently, as if he would fall off the bike onto the road any minute. However, in the meantime, he managed to get from the dirt road onto the paved road. Then he drove as fast as he could to Mohanpur market. His house is next to the market, and when he got home, he saw that it was already 11 o'clock at night. Seeing his condition, his mother was astonished and asked what was wrong. He didn't say much, just took a shower and went to bed. He had a terrible fever that night. His mother sat beside him all night. After the Fajr prayer call, his fever gradually started to subside. He couldn't fast that day due to his illness. And he couldn't say where that tiffin box from his aunt had fallen, who took it, or what happened to it. He couldn't find it afterwards either. Anyway, after morning, he felt a little better. Then he told his mother everything that had happened. And that night, his father came home too, because he had a day off from work. Because of the holiday, he boarded a night coach. He arrived early in the morning, a little after Sehri time. Then, when his father also learned about the matter, he took him to an Imam. Everything was explained to him, and the Imam performed exorcism in his own way. But the Imam said one thing: never drive alone like that at night, at least not alone. He also taught him some religious practices and told him to always do them, otherwise that thing might come back to him. So, it was a very frightening experience.

This is for Tanvir bhai; by the grace of Allah, he hasn't encountered *that* thing again. And he's still regularly performing the deeds (amal) that [Sultan Khondokar] bhai taught him. This Tanvir bhai is also studying with this Sultan Khondakar bhai in the second year of his honors program at a government college in Pabna. So, that was the incident, dear listeners. Actually, we think that no scary incidents happen during Ramadan, but that's not really the case. Scary incidents do happen during Ramadan. We say that during Ramadan, the devil is locked up – the main Iblis devil is locked up – but these smaller jinns, they're not all locked up. Mainly, these are the ones who come and cause disturbances at different times. Also, it's seen that at night, if you're carrying food alone on the road – fish, meat, or pitha – they come to bother you to eat it. Sometimes they attack, sometimes they don't attack but try to snatch it. And if you give it to them, they take it and leave. If you don't give it, they cause harm. And like how we normally explain something to someone and they often understand, with jinns, it's the opposite. Because in many cases, they don't want to accept anything. It's not possible to reason with them. Once they get fixated on someone, they stay fixated. That's the situation.

Anyway, may Allah protect us. Thank you to Sultan Khondkar bhai for sharing your friend Tanvir bhai's story with us.