Churail is a (perhaps derived from the Sanskrit word cur, which means "to steal") female malevolent spirit said to be the spirit of a woman who died childless, in childbirth, or with her wishes unfulfilled in some way.
These unfulfilled aspirations drive such spirits to seek vengeance by hurting others, especially children, in order to reclaim the pleasure they were denied.
- See Lawrence Babb, The Divine Hierarchy, 1975;
- Ann Grodzins Gold, Fruitful Journeys, 1988;
- And Sudhir Kakar, Shamans, Mystics, and Doctors, 1991 for further information about churails and other unquiet ghosts of the dead.
