'Ghost' in 'spooky' New Road house has all on their toes

Kathmandu 

Traffic went haywire and business saw a downturn at the Pipal Bot area in New Road here on Monday, as people flocked in droves to witness what some called a "ghost" in a "haunted" building.

People stood in awe outside the four-storey grey-coloured building just opposite the Pipal Bot and beside the Ranjana Galli entrance.

In what later turned out to be a cock-and-bull story, the so-called phantom reportedly manhandled Dipak Maskey, the owner of the “haunted house”, that, according to locals, is empty for many years.

Rumour mills started churning and people said Maskey was slapped several times "by no one" when he tried to open his shop at around 11:30 in the morning. The houseowner was about to hand over a shop at the ground floor of the building to a new tenant when it all started.

With a view to convincing the new tenant that all spooky rumours concerning the house were fake, he had invited the media as well as some Vastu experts.

However, his bid to prove that the house was never haunted was all ruined after people started to huddle around TV journalists gathered there. As the crowd swelled and the minutes ticked away into hours, the baseless assumption that there was a ghost throwing a tantrum in the house filled the air.

A store has been selling watches and sunglasses in the shop for the past six years. According to Ranjit Rai, a salesman in the store, which shifted to an adjoining building 22 days ago, nothing unsusual happened during their six years of stay in the building.

“No ghost lives in our house,” said Sangita Maskey, Dipak's wife.

The ghost rumour that spread like wildfire turned everything in the area topsy-turvy, while also forcing police to interfere.

“Nothing happened as was claimed,” giggled 62-year-old Roshan Lal, the owner of a music shop, adjoining the “haunted building”. “This is very funny. Everything is happening right under our noses and outsiders are simply spreading rumours, giving twists and turns to this non-existent story.”

According to Psychologist Ganga Pathak, the hoax had much to do with psychological factors. “People rely less on their intellect and more on rumours when they are in a mass,” she said. “Another reason could be the people's phobic state of being jobless.”

According to DSP Dhiraj Pratap Singh, Spokesperson of the Metropolitan Police Range (MPR) Kathmandu, police had to spring into action after the crowd started obstructing traffic in the area. (Source: ekantipur.com/en)