Churel

Ook bekend as: chudail, churail, petni, shakchunni, pichal peri

Volksverhale en mitesOndoodWissel'n Slegte dood of begrafnis1500 tot 1899

The churel is the dangerous dead woman of South Asian folklore, the returned form of someone who died in childbirth or through ill-treatment. She seduces and destroys men, beginning with her own male relatives. The precautions taken against her are aimed squarely at the corpse: it is pinned, bound, broken and buried face down under thorns and stones. Those measures closely match anti-revenant burial practice in Europe.1

Veg daarteen

Eerste opgeteken

1880

Described in colonial-era ethnography, including William Crooke's study of North Indian folklore (1894)

Oorsprong

South Asian

Indië, Pakistan, Bangladesj, Nepal

Wat dit veroorsaak

'n Slegte dood of begrafnis

A woman who dies in childbirth, in pregnancy or during ritual impurity, or by cruelty, returns.

Hoe jy een word

Death in or around childbirth, or any unnatural death; in Bengal, dying unmarried or with desires unfulfilled.

Hoe dit beweeg

Wissel

Waits near trees and lonely places and leads men away into woods or hills.

Intelligensie

Slim

Swak plekke

filling the grave with thorns and piling stones on top
nailing or binding the fingers and toes with iron
breaking the legs, sewing the eyes shut with thorns and burying the body face down
sowing mustard seed along the funeral route
carrying the body out through a side door