Any “Travel to Australia” advertisement on television displays stills of the Great Barrier Reef and pearl white beaches. Volleyball, tank tops, scantily clothed and sizzlingly tanned bodies can be found frolicking around. But on 22nd October 2018, a body was found in one such Australian beach. The difference was, this wasn’t a tanned person frolicking around. In fact, this body did not appear to move at all. This is the story of the day that redefined the ‘beach’ for residents of Queensland, Australia; this is the story of Toyah Cordingley.

Welcome to Chai and Chithi, a segment where we take fan stories mailed in to us, as well as share some of our more personal ghastly experiences.

Welcome to Chai and Chithi, a segment where we take fan stories mailed in to us, as well as share some of our more personal ghastly experiences.

Every now and then, in this country of a booming billion, a crime occurs that captures the attention of the nation. Every now and then, one crime is what everyone can talk about – from conversations over the 2 rupee tea at the roadside chai wala to conversations over a sugar infused diabetes inducing drink at starbucks: one story cuts across caste, class, and creed. In 2021, that story was the Madanapalle Double Murder, and 2022 just found its story as well. This is the story of what went down, allegedly, in a small apartment in Mehrauli’s Chatarpur area; this is the story of Shraddha Walkar and Aftab Amin Poonawala.

Welcome to Chai and Chithi, a segment where we take fan stories mailed in to us, as well as share some of our more personal ghastly experiences.

As 2020 came to a close, the world came together to mark the merciful end of a tragic year of pandemic tragedy. Families were left in shambles, with loved ones gone too soon and whole communities in relentless mourning. But the end of a year so trying offered hope that the turning of the calendar might allow us to begin anew. The unsuspecting Kukreja family shared that hope, having no way of knowing just how profoundly that New Years Eve would change their lives forever. This is the story of one night and one family, tied together forever. This is the story of 19-year-old Jhanvi Kukreja.

We promised you this segment months ago, and we’re marking our 60th episode with the fulfillment of that promise — welcome to Chai and Chithi, a segment where we take fan stories mailed in to us, as well as share some of our more personal ghastly experiences.

You’re familiar now with the story of a seemingly loving, happy couple: Nancy and Amarjit were living with their two children in London until the entire family vanished like they’d never existed. Some thought little of it, saying the family had left of their own volition. Nancy’s brother thought otherwise, launching a wild hunt for his family. Much as he tried, Onkar’s search seemed only to bring more questions. But we’re here to give you some answers. Welcome back to part two of the Disappearance of the Chohan Family.

Sadly, disappearing is not as uncommon as we might hope. Oftentimes, it’s young women like Sneha Phillip, or small children like like Geeta and Sanjay Chopra at the hands of Ranga and Billa; the sorts of cases we cover regularly. What is uncommon is for an entire family to vanish all at once. What happens when it’s suddenly as if three generations never existed? The answer: Scotland Yard spirals into one of the most complex manhunts in UK history, traveling to four countries and collecting thousands of documents to solve a case that turned the country upside down. This is the story of that manhunt. This is the story of the Chohan family.

Disturbing memories, scrawled in cursive books meant for kindergarteners: “My mother made my sister strip in the bathroom… My mother thinks I am impotent. She wanted to see me develop a relationship. This is why she used to send a maid servant to my room to excite me.” The inscriptions, incongruous with the whimsical books in which they were found. The mother in question is Aarati De, and everything that’s happened over the course of decades at house number 3 on Robinson Street can be traced back to her. What seemed on the surface to be a psychopath on the loose morphs into a far more complicated web. Who killed Debjani, where is Aarati, and what happened to Partho? Welcome to part two of the Kolkata House of Murders.

Countless true crime stories begin with a family. More specifically, a family gone awry — hate, jealousy, and vengeance seeping in and tearing apart the bonds of blood. But this story is different. This isn’t the case of a family that doesn’t love one another; this is the case of a family that loves one another far too much. What does that mean? This is the story where you find out. It’s a story weaving together suicide, murder, incest, and cannibalism, all into one unbelievable plot. This is the story of Kolkata’s House of Horror.

The case that we have for you today is as much about the crime as what happened next, about death as much as life. It is about morality as much as ethics, as much about the society we seek to create as much as the punishment it doles out to those who threaten it. This case will come to be discussed for generations of Indian law students. It is the story of a 25-year-old nurse just seeking to make a difference, help those in need, and live a normal, happy life. And then, on the night of 27th November 1973, the actions of one man changed this woman’s life forever and pushed her into a 42-year-long nightmare. This is the story of a case that moved India and moved the world. This is the story of Aruna Shanbaug.

Today’s episode comes all the way from Nepal, where a young girl had big dreams like any other. Her doting family moved across cities and states, all for the sake of their daughter’s promising future, until that young girl got a phone call that changed her life forever. Soon after, her parents got a phone call too — a call that shattered the life they had built and all the happiness within it. This is the story of that young girl. This is the story of Khyati Shreshtha.

How I’m looking? Beautiful, sexy, or hot?” One could have easily mistaken these words to be uttered by a Kim Kardashian, a Kendal Jenner or some other young woman on Instagram seeking fame, if only it was not for the broken English. The broken English hides a story much deeper than an appeal for likes on social media. The minor grammatical difference underscores a world altogether different than the one of TikTok stars. These were the very words that gave a woman in Pakistan a new life; a life she had always desired. But the very same words were also responsible for snatching away her life from her. This is the story of Qandeel Baloch.

When we cover these cases, the ones that hit the hardest are those with the clearest injustice: deep-rooted, disturbing, and plain to see. Cases where the very ones tasked with righting injustice — our parents, our schools, our police — are the ones who perpetrate it. It makes all of our blood boil to hear of lives destroyed, families torn apart, futures snatched over trivialities. If you feel this way too, this case is your worst nightmare come to life: a nightmare one 14-year-old girl had to live through 32 years ago. This is a case that shook India to its core. This is the story of Ruchika Girhotra.