Case file · High strangeness
The Monkey-man of Delhi
In May 2001 residents of Delhi reported a small, hairy, monkey-like attacker with claws, leading to panic, injuries and deaths from falls.
2001 CE · 28.61, 77.21 · status: explained
The account
Reports began in Ghaziabad and spread through east Delhi during a hot spring when people slept on rooftops. Descriptions varied wildly, from a helmeted man to a machine. At least two people died fleeing imagined attacks, and police offered rewards and arrested several people without finding a culprit.
The sceptical view
Police and psychologists described the episode as mass hysteria, fuelled by power cuts, rumours and press coverage; many reported scratches were self-inflicted or ordinary injuries.
Connections in the atlas
- The Muhnochwa ('face-scratcher')
- Sri Lanka's 'grease devils'
- Mad Gasser of Mattoon
- Tanganyika laughter epidemic