KOTA BARU: Two months ago, Zainab Sulaiman, 80, and her family moved into their new house after the one that they had been living in for six years was destroyed in a mysterious blaze.
Tragedy however, struck yet again. Last night, their new house in Kampung Penambang near Jalan Pantai Cahaya Bulan was razed.
The family has no explanation for the tragedy over what they believe could be "paranormal" in nature.
Zainab's granddaughter, Wan Norfatiha Wan Hanafi, 19, said the family was having dinner in Kota Baru at 9pm when a neighbour called them to say that their house was on fire.
"We immediately rushed back but it was too late," said Norfatiha.
She said the family was unable to save their belongings. They estimated losses to run into thousands of ringgit.
The mysterious fires have been occurring wherever the family resides over the last six years.
Six years ago, Zainab and her family claimed to have suffered from “paranormal activity”, including mysterious fires at their home in Kampung Penambang Mas.
The phenomena lasted for several months, resulting in the former petty trader and her family suffering huge losses, including the destruction of their wooden house and other valuable properties.
Zainab had said that since the incident, they had been having sleepless nights, worrying that the fire will occur while everyone was asleep.
Clothes and prayer mats, she said, would suddenly be set ablaze, leaving the family scrambling to put out the fires.
She said the family has sought help from religious experts and even bomoh to help them out, to no avail.
She said the situation has worsened, to the extent that even neighbours are avoiding them. People are also now reluctant to rent any houses to them fearing that the property might burn down.