To unaware passersby, a bridge of Jl. RE Martadinata in North Jakarta may seem like an ordinary piece of infrastructure to get across Ancol River or to take shelter beneath from sun or rain. The highway bridge is busy with a never-ending stream of cars and container trucks emitting fumes mixed with dust into the air, while several people stand in the middle attempting to ease the traffic flow. But there’s more to it than meets the eye, some insist, giving birth to an urban legend that has earned the ordinary-looking bridge a sinister reputation in Jakarta and beyond. It is said that, one fateful night several decades ago, a beautiful maiden was kidnapped and killed by a bandit and her body was thrown into the Ancol River. Legend has it that, after the rumored crime, her ghost lurks around the bridge at night, lamenting her untimely death. Betawi culture and history expe...