The Monkey Man of Delhi

urban legends exist around the world mostly to keep us from parking in Dark Places at night or from talking to creepy kids with dark colored eyes but what happens when an urban legend goes viral causing so much Panic that people begin to die because of it that's precisely what happened in India in 2001 when residents reported some 350 terrifying encoun ERS with what would eventually become known as the monkey man of Delhi [Music] Delhi the bustling capital of India is home to nearly 33 million people not only is it vast it is also also one

of the most densely populated cities on Earth with an astounding 29,000 people per square mile from toing highrises to sprawling slums this bustling Metropolis positively teams with life despite its status as a major economic Hub however the city's inhabitants faed significant challenges in the early 2000s unemployment and underemployment were widespread amidst the then population of 14 million and the city's strained infrastructure struggled to keep up slums expanded rapidly with many residents lacking access to Clean Water Sanitation or education these dire conditions were worsened by terrible air quality with parts of the city perpetually shrouded in

a toxic fog from burning refu vehicle emissions and industrial pollution to add to the misery power companies implemented rolling blackouts plunging poorer neighborhoods Into Darkness for hours at a time it was into this chaotic environment that one of the most bizarre Cryptids on record first appeared said to be anywhere from 4 to 8 ft tall it had the face of an ape and was covered in thick black or brown fur he also had glowing red eyes that pierced through the darkness those unlucky enough to encounter it say that it prer to attack at night leaping

at people and either bludgeoning them with weapons or slashing at them with sharp teeth and Claws a few were claimed to have died from direct injuries but most were reportedly so terrified by the creature that they leapt off roofs and Terraces just to escape it it didn't take long before everyone in the city came to fear the monkey man of Deli immediately people began raising questions as to what the creature might be be amongst the more religious citizens talk quickly turned to India's Legends the subcontinent has a rich folklore tradition one that contains more than

its fair share of monsters from the Demonic rasar to the vampiric vetalas there is no shortage of beasts believed to inhabit graveyards caves and other ominous places then there are the Cryptids like the Mund brung a N9 tall Bigfoot likee creature said to inhabit the dense forests or its Himalayan cousin the yeti could one of these creatures have made its way into the urban environment to wreak havoc amongst the poor whatever the case what follows has been described as either clear evidence of an attack by a paranormal being or one of the most bizarre and

deadly instances of Masseria in history the appearance of the monkey man coincided with a heat wave that rocked the city of Delhi in the summer of 2001 for weeks both rich and poor suffered under the high temperatures which regularly peaked above 40° this combined with the unreliable electricity meant that many residents could not even power a fan to keep themselves cool as a result many chose to sleep outside on balconies Terraces and roofs whilst this provided some relief from the heat it also exposed them to the noxious air and it seems something much more dangerous

one particularly hot night 37-year-old Pros Chand a factory worker decided to sleep out on his Terrace whilst his family stayed inside their apartment a resident of the slums the Chan family had precious little space between them in the Searing heat would have made it almost unbearable in the tiny ramshackle flat precos later reported that he had placed a rug on his balcony where he listened to the sounds of the city before eventually falling asleep at around 1:00 a.m. however his peaceful Slumber would not last long at around 4:00 a.m. prosh said he was jolted awake

though he couldn't see anything in the pitch Darkness he later reported being aware that there was something on the small balcony with him without warning Pros was struck hard on the arm before something large and heavy jumped on top of him though he was unable to get a good look at his attacker he said he could hear it growling and snarling as it repeatedly pummeled him about the face neck and head the attack only lasted a few seconds and prosh reported that whatever had attacked him had simply disappeared into the darkness afterwards worried for his

family he made a call to the authorities stating that he had been attacked by something strong well-built and not human it was only then that he learned that he was not the only one to be attacked in the slums that week police said that in total some 20 victims had reported being pounced on whilst walking alone at night or sleeping out on rooftops many of these came away from the attack with deep scratch marks and gouges on their arms faces and necks the victims also reported that after the brutal attacks the creature seemed to Simply

vanish as the weeks passed there were even more reports of attacks and encounters with the strange creature despite the Fantastic claims the Delhi police had no choice but to treat the situation as as seriously as the public they hired more than 3,000 temporary officers to patrol the streets at night looking for anything out of the ordinary they also released a series of sketches based on eyewitness accounts but these mostly serve to add to the confusion as the attacks grew more frequent the descriptions of the monkey man of Deli took a turn towards the bizaar in

these new reports he would some times appear clothed often wearing a metal helmet other eyewitnesses reported that the Beast had a Halo like an angel and that it could jump more than 30 ft at a time still others claimed it was not covered with fur but feathers and that it disappeared so easily because it could fly at least one person reported it being on roller skates the resulting sketches were difficult for many to take seriously but for the people living in the slums the monkey man was a deadly reality after all a significant number of

sightings had been accompanied by injuries some people were scratched others knocked to the ground and punched whilst others were simply scared out of their wits and injured themselves trying to get away at least one man died after tumbling off a building in panic when his neighbor screamed to alert him of the monkey man's presence the local media only played into the hysteria interviewing anybody and everybody with scratches on their arms or a scary story of their own even with the extra officers younger Deli residents soon began patrolling the streets with axes and sticks this led

to more than a few cases of mistaken identity as the mob mentality took hold inside the slums police filed numerous reports of armed groups attacking innocent bystanders or of people being trampled on amidst a rush to escape or attack the mysterious creature despite the circulating rumors regarding the monkey man the Heatwave and blackouts forced tens of thousands of people to continue sleeping out on their balconies every night for this reason attacks occurred daily sometimes as many as a dozen in 24 hours police records tell of one young girl who had decided to sleep outside for

the evening only to awaken in the middle of the night to find a hairy inhuman hand resting on her thigh hearing her screams the girl's mother bounded out of the apartment with a broom swinging it wildly at whatever was near her daughter this led to a whole new slew of rumors that the monkey man was targeting young women hoping to kidnap them and take them back to its Lair by this point the people have dead had been worked into a near State of Anarchy every night they would go to sleep in fear and every morning

the news would report another series of incidents injuries and sometimes deaths the most prominent example of the monkey man actually causing a fatality can be found in the tragic tale of an individual simply known as suan Suman was a 27-year-old pregnant woman living in the slums of East Delhi family members said that the heat coupled with her being pregnant had been making suan miserable and that she'd been having trouble sleeping as a result she had chosen to sleep out on the Terrace one fateful night temperatures had been peaking at 42° C and much of the

neighborhood had decided to brave the night air likely believing there was safety in numbers at some point in the early hours suan had been awoken by screams from her neighbors shouting that the monkey man had arrived apparently unable to get inside she tried to flee down the stairs from her Terrace but in her panic she lost her footing and ended up falling to the ground below sadly she later died in hospital from her injuries the only only other confirmed fatality remains unidentified to this day police reports describe the unknown man as having suffered Grievous wounds

about his face neck and abdomen which eventually led to his death whilst tragic please stated that the victim's body proved to be a crucial piece of evidence in their efforts to solve the monkey man phenomenon then joint Commissioner of police sures Roy reported Consulting with doctors about the wounds that had been inflicted many of them were confirmed to be bites of some kind though the doctors could not definitively match them to any known animal upon checking with officials at Deli Zoo the police confirmed that all animals were accounted for whatever had killed the man either

lived in the city itself or the surrounding natural areas and since the victim was not eaten the creatures motives for killing were clearly not related to survival in total there were nearly 350 documented incidents and reports related to the monkey man of Delhi over a period of 3 weeks nevertheless no animal or human was ever photographed let alone caught moreover the incredible Variety in the descriptions of this strange entity has raised many questions as to just who or what it might have been and whe whether it even existed at all the first theory is that

there was indeed an attacker of some kind lurking in the darkness of the deli slums whether it was a disfigured human giant monkey demon or something else entirely is less important than proving that it was actually there its existence seems to be supported by the numerous injuries inflicted and the fact that many of them seem to be bite-like lacerations some say it was a case of mistaken identity due to the pitch black conditions residents simply confused a local monkey or other animal for something larger and more Sinister others say nobody could possibly mistake the types

of monkeys native to India for a 5 to 8ft tall creature the largest species in the region the gry langur Peaks at just 2 feet tall and 44b in weight for the majority of Delhi residents however the monkey man was nothing short of being Supernatural in origin this would explain why it was able to attack so swiftly and then completely disappear some have even theorized that it may indeed have been a demon or mystical being with the ability to shapeshift much like the skinwalker of North America or phase between [Music] Dimensions finally there are those

who believe the monkey man was entirely human or a group of several humans possibly in Disguise whether they were pranksters or had Criminal Intent is still up for debate but proponents of this Theory say this is the only way to explain the size of the animal and the fact that it was often witnessed wearing clothes still scientists and researchers around the globe have a different opinion to them the monkey man was a perfect example of mass hysteria one exacerbated by higher than average heat blackouts and media sensationalism it's true that as the initial reports of

the monkey man attack spread fear and anxiety grew amongst the city's poorest residents this Collective apprehension may have caused people to misinterpret sounds Shadows or even common animals as being the monkey man when we look into the reports many of the worst injuries seem to involve people running from things they didn't actually see and harming themselves in the process suan the pregnant woman only ever heard her neighbor screams and felt to her death in an effort to escape preos Chand the man sleeping on the balcony didn't get a good look at his attacker either only

the unknowned man who died of his wounds provides any physical iCal evidence yet he was sadly never able to describe to anyone what had assailed him it's worth noting that animal attacks are relatively common in India with bears leopards and tigers accounting for dozens of deaths each year could he have been a victim of an unrelated animal attack that simply got lumped in with the growing hysteria finally there's the matter of the reward shortly after the stories began circulating Delhi police announced a 50,000 rupee reward for information leading to the capture of the monkey man

as anticipated this led to a flood of new calls and reports however many of these turned out to be hoaxes or lies trumped up in an effort to claim the money it's impossible to ignore that the vast majority of the victims around 94% were from the poorest areas of the city while some 89% of these were of low socioeconomic status after the sightings died down police reported discovering that some people had faked injuries for medical and media attention whilst others reframed existing unrelated injuries as stemming from encounters with the infamous interloper of course none of

these Revelations ever received anywhere near the amount of attention as the Monkey Man sightings themselves leaving many residents convinced that all of the encounters had been equally legitimate for many it's difficult to accept that the citizens of Delhi could react so violently without the presence of a real physical threat after all even Mass hysteria events do not occur entirely in a vacuum but as to what exactly was happening during those few months in 2001 there's almost no way to tell what we do know is that the situation in the city at that time was far

from ideal the people in the slums where most of the sightings occurred were poor malnourished and often suffering from heat or air quality related illnesses could they have conjured the monkey man up from nothing or did someone or something simply use the conditions of the crowded slums as cover for their nefarious Deeds unless the monkey man appears again we may never know for now the phenomenon remains an unsolved mystery with multiple theories offering little in the way of explanation for what happened even if it was simply a case of mass hysteria pranks misidentified animals or

some combination of these factors the incident serves as a fascinating example of how fear and rumor can rapidly escalate into a full-blown urban legend we do know that the current population of Delhi has recently cross 33 million with so many people living in the city it would be difficult for a large animal or the strange creature to hide forever if the monkey man is still out there it will only be a matter of time before someone spots him again unless of course he truly was Supernatural for e on B time glor