Churile
On your way home after midnight, walking down an empty street, you see a lone woman walking towards you. Slowly she walks, swaying as she releases a mournful cry into the night. You stop, and stare ahead of you watching the gate to your house a few meters away. Could you make it inside before the woman gets closer? Do you dare turn your back to her? There's something off about this woman, she looks too pale. Even from your distance, it's clear to see...she is not alive. Another piercing cry fills the air. Adrenaline kicks your feet into action, you run swiftly to the safety of your home. Stumbling up the front step, hands trembling as you turn the lock, you pray the ghostly figure isn't directly behind you. The lock clicks open and you fall through the open doorway. Scrambling up from the floor you shut the door just as the woman looks in. The door slams shut as the screeching sound muffles through the wooden door.
"Was that a Churile?" a voice behind you says.
You turn around to see your housemate's horrified expression looking down at you.
That's right. Today we talk about the folklore character that is a new mother's nightmare.
A Churile, is believed to be the spirit of a woman who has died during childbirth or committed suicide during pregnancy. They are said to be found near the place she lived when alive or around other pregnant women whom the spirit is jealous of. It is believed that the spirit mostly roams on the night of the full moon looking for her lost child. According to legend, the Churile preys on pregnant women, babies that resembles the one they had lost and in some cases their former husbands if they were abusive. They attack pregnant women by haunting them and causing miscarriages. Newborn children are also in danger as the Churile causes the children to slowly suffocate in their cribs. Locals believed that the Churile would turn the babies onto their bellies or thin the air around the infant to kill them. Some also believed that the Churile will draw/suck the life from the child in order to replace the one she had lost. The Churile may also attack their former husband by causing him to suffer some sort of sickness, if the husband was abusive or neglectful of the child she bore for him when she was alive.
The evil spirit looks like a woman dressed in a white dress with long, untied and rumpled hair falling over her face. Some have even reported that they have seen her cradling, what seemed like a baby, in her arms as she sorrowfully wails into the night. Some West Indian countries believe that the Churile is not a solitary entity but can take on multiple forms and personalities.
Artwork by Zynep Serinker & Rachel Kumar
It is East Indian in origin, as the vampire-like creature. The word Chudail/Churile means “witch” or “hag” in Urdu and Hindi. The word Churile is even used as a derogatory term towards women who constantly bickers.
Based on the description of the Churile, the only other legend I can think of is the Japanese ghost women from The Grudge with the child that mewed like a cat. However, most Asian depiction of ghosts and hauntings are centered on the woman in white with her hair draped over her face. Since this folklore character also exhibit vampire-like characteristics, it can be indirectly related to other vampire-like creatures. It can be said that the Churile will suck the souls/energy out of their victims rather than their blood.
In recent years, some have speculated that the Churail was used to explain the deaths of toddlers who died in their sleep, which is now known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It is possible that superstitious people created the Churail to explain toddlers turning over in their sleep and suffocating.
Despite that being the most likely reality, I do enjoy the dark superstition of a vengeful spirit looking for her lost child. Clearly I am not the only one as many persons continue to write stories around the folklore character that has become part of our diverse culture. Here is a short story about this folklore, titled: The Churile of Sugarcane Valley.
So if a strange cry wake you up in the middle of the night and look out your window to see a woman in white standing outside, it might be your grandma out on a night stroll or it might be...something else.
