Case file · High strangeness
Sri Lanka's 'grease devils'
In August–September 2011 reports spread of men smeared with black grease attacking women at night, leading to vigilante violence.
2011 CE · 7.87, 80.77 · status: explained
The account
The panic hit mainly Tamil and Muslim communities in post-war Sri Lanka. Rumours described the intruders as supernatural 'devils' who could leap and vanish. Mobs attacked suspects and clashed with police and soldiers, and several people died.
The sceptical view
Human-rights groups and journalists described a moral panic built around real assaults and rumours; many locals suspected the intruders had links to the security forces. Nothing supernatural was involved.