Churel

thumb|Within Hindu belief, churels may become dakinis and serve the goddess [[Kali.]] The Churel,, alternatively spelled Chudail, Churail, Chudel, Churreyl, or Churrail, also known as Petni and Shakchunni, is a mythical or legendary creature resembling a woman, which may be a demonical revenant said to occur in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean, particularly popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. The churel is typically described as "the ghost of an unpurified living thing", but because she is often said to latch on to trees, she is also called a tree-spirit. According to some legends, a woman who dies very cruely will come back as a revenant churel for revenge, particularly targeting the males in her family.

The churel is mostly described as extremely ugly and hideous but is able to shape-shift and disguise herself as a beautiful woman to lure men into the woods or mountains where she either kills them or sucks up their life-force or virility, turning them into old men. Their feet are believed to be turned the other way around, so the toes face the direction of their back.