Agricultural land in Kurdistan.. Whoever sows it becomes cursed and loses his wife
Shafaq News/ in a story similar to the Hollywood horror movies, a pristine land is located in Kurdistan without being approached by the village residents for decades; due to fear for their families and relatives’ lives. It is locally known as the "Dead wife’s land" and is left untouched because of the established belief that those who do so will lose their life partner forever.
This land, which is in the middle of hundreds of hectares of cultivated land in the Harika village (located at the foot of Mount Zebar in Deraluk sub-district of Al-Amadiya district north of Dohuk), has not been planted for more than 100 years.
Ibrahim Sa’id, the Harika village’s mayor told Shafaq News agency, “We never use this land for agriculture. There is a fear of it; inherited from stories that people tell from generation to generation that this land is haunted”.
The prevailing belief and legacy among the residents of the area is those who exploit this plot of land will face a "calamity" of their own, namely, a sustained disability or the death of a family member.
"It is said that this land was owned by a poor person and was forcibly confiscated by a feudal lord, so whoever cultivates it becomes cursed. It is said that two young men have disappeared in this land forever; the people believe that it is haunted.. There is a story about a farmer who lost seven of his family members for planting this land for seven years. We are afraid to approach this land and walk in it", Salih Sa’id, one of the village’s elders, told Shafaq News agency about the accounts of this agricultural land.
Khalil Haji Hameed, a resident of the village, calls it the "Dead wife's land”, and said, "No one cultivates it for fear that his wife or a relative will die".
Such attitudes are not alien to the beliefs of the villagers -especially those far from the cities.. They are transmitting many incidents that led to the departure of houses and farms for fear of belief and popular heritage.
