A chill wind whispered through the sugarcane fields of Uttar Pradesh, carrying with it the scent of rigid traditions belonging to a bygone era. In villages where life moved with the seasons and ancient customs held strong, a new tension was starting to build. For generations, the idea of freedom for women, the freedom to choose, to be, to experience the world around them as men would, was a forbidden thought, a dangerous secret. But in 2014, as the world outside moved faster, even these quiet places began to feel a tremor of defiance. It was a time when a simple phone could open up a world of possibilities, and with it, a rush of fear and anger. In a world desperate to control, some dared to dream of freedom, and for two young girls, that dream would become a terrible nightmare. This is the story of that little village in Uttar Pradesh and its open fields. This is the story of Padma and Lalli.

New Delhi, India's capital and a city of 30 million people is infamous for being the suicide capital of the world. Yet the case that I have for you today still gives me and countless other Delhi residents sleepless nights. This is the story of a banyan tree, a happy seemingly home, a mass suicide of 11, and a shared secret nobody still fully understands to this day. This is the Burari case.

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"If you don’t hear from me… they’ve killed me.” Those were a girl’s words. Not in a dramatic diary entry, not to a friend over a cappucino, but in a cold, trembling text to the boy she loved. She was eighteen. Eighteen and afraid — of the very people who gave her life. So when the sun rose on a quiet field in northern Italy nearly six months later, and a search dog started barking over a shallow patch of soil — no one said it out loud, but everyone standing there already knew whose body they were about to find. The spot was ordinary — the edge of a disused farmhouse, flanked by crop lines and fencing. But from under that earth came bone. Then plastic. Then hair. And in that moment, a message that once sounded like fear… became a prophecy. This is the story of an honor killing that shook Italy. This is the story of Saman Abbas.

To mark 5 years of Desi Crime, here is a special episode of Chai & Chithi. We bring to you the scariest, eeriest, most terrifying tales, sent in to us by our listeners, all while we recount some of our most pivotal moments at Desi Crime. From discussing its inception, to its successes, and its pitfalls along the way, Aishwarya and Aryaan welcome you to the 5 years anniversary special.For extra episodes, early access, silly bloopers, subscribe at: https://www.patreon.com/thedesistudios or join our YouTube family https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbfV0YvrxWMq3h0hmo13Jg/joinFor fastest updates, follow our socials at: https://www.instagram.com/desicrime/Aryaan https://www.instagram.com/aryaanmisra/Aishwarya https://www.instagram.com/aishwaryasinghs/To buy Desi Studios merch, visit: https://kadakmerch.com/collections/desi-studios

Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam travel to the misty hills of Meghalaya for their dream honeymoon, but a frantic phone call from a remote jungle trail is their last contact with the world. After Raja's body is discovered brutally murdered in a deep gorge, a nationwide hunt begins for his missing bride. The investigation, however, unearths a chilling conspiracy that turns the search for Sonam from a rescue mission into a hunt for a killer hiding in plain sight. Was this the perfect honeymoon, or the perfect murder plot?

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TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE, HEAD TO: www.patreon.com/thedesistudiosORhttps://www.youtube.com/@thedesistudios/membership---------------------------------------------------------------------For many Indian families, America is the dream. A clean, green world where jobs are stable, homes are spacious, and children thrive under the flag of opportunity. But sometimes, behind suburban smiles and manicured lawns, something else grows. Something silent. Something dangerous. In late 2023 and early 2024, news began to surface of not one, not two, but three separate incidents involving Indian-American families—fathers who, by all outward appearances, had it all. Educated. Employed. Settled. And yet, in three quiet homes, across three different states, these men killed their families. Wives. Children. And then, themselves. These aren’t just stories of individual tragedy. They are stories of pressure and breakdown, of cultural dislocation and invisible suffering. They raise questions we rarely ask until it's too late: What happens when the dream begins to rot from the inside? This is the story of that one question. This is the story of the Kamals. The Henrys. The Nagarajappas.

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IPL betting apps are scamming Indians out of thousands of crores! Celebrity endorsements hide rigged platforms designed to steal your money.

We expose the fraud epidemic destroying lives during cricket season - revealing how these apps operate, launder money, and target unsuspecting fans. Don't become their next victim! #IPLScam #BettingFraud #Investigation

April 1959. Commander K.M. Nanavati walked into Prem Ahuja’s bedroom with a loaded revolver — and minutes later, Ahuja was dead, a towel around his waist, a nation holding its breath. What began as a crime of passion turned into a trial that destroyed India’s jury system, divided public opinion, and left behind one of the most explosive scandals in Indian legal history.

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The year is 1966. Mumbai, the city of dreams, is dreaming. By day, the city was bustling. But by night, Mumbai's heartbeat changed. Families in the northern suburbs whispered warnings, doors were bolted earlier than usual, and some streets grew eerily silent. Because someone was hunting. Quietly. Brutally. On the sidelines, a young and enigmatic police detective had just taken over the city’s Crime Branch. And what he stepped into was not just a murder investigation — it was a descent into a mind unlike any the force had dealt with before. A mind that believed it was acting on divine command. This is not just a story of murder. It’s a story of paranoia, delusion, and the thin line between madness and evil. This is the story of Raman Raghav.

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The platform at Howrah station is always loud. It crackles with the sound of steel, hurried footsteps, impatient whistles. But every so often, something moves within that noise. Something evil. On a cold November afternoon in 1933, a young heir passed through that tide. Surrounded by family, on his way home to a princely estate, he walked — as so many around him did. And like so many others, he might have forgotten the bump of a shoulder, the brush of a sleeve, the feeling of a moment too fast to register. Except he didn’t. Because that day, that brush, that fleeting second — it left behind something no one could see. Something that would turn a routine train journey into one of the most unbelievable true crime stories of pre independent India. This is the story of Amarendra Chandra Pandey.

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In a small town in Maharashtra, bodies started showing up one by one. A girl found near a lake. Another dumped behind a temple. Then a woman. Then a child. For over a year, people whispered. About a tree, about blood, about sacrifices. But the police kept treating each case like it stood alone. A murder here, a tragedy there. Until January 4th, 1974 — when someone saw it happen. Not the aftermath. Not the body. The act itself. And with that one eyewitness, the silence of Manvat broke.

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Most people today know T-Series as the YouTube titan that took on PewDiePie — the faceless empire behind billions of views and copyright strikes. But long before the meme, there was a man. A man with no playback voice, no filmi surname, and no godfather. This is the story Gulshan Kumar, and how Dawood plotted against him.

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On October 31th, 2008, an apartment complex in Redmond, Washington, became the site of a crime that unraveled in plain sight. This is the story of Arpana Jinaga.

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A royal dinner. A crown prince with a gun.Within minutes, Nepal’s royal bloodline was wiped out. What really happened inside the Narayanhiti Palace that night?

THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED ON 2/2/25. OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO THE VICTIMS OF PAHALGAM AND THEIR FAMILIES. TERRORISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

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The Newington College was a college setup to civilize the India man, make him into a slave of the Western etiquette, stamp out his cultural sensibilities. A college setup for India’s princely youth. But something happened on the night of October 15, 1919 that stamped out the college itself from the annals of Indian history. This is the story of that mysterious gun shot. This is the story of Clement De La Haye.

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In the stillness of an English night, a fire flickered to life—small at first, then all-consuming. By the time the flames died down, a man lay unrecognizable, his body burned beyond recognition. One woman stood in the corner, watching this man burn, watching as the past ten years of her life turned to ash, not screaming, not calling for help. As the world would learn of this story, many would come to applaud the fire that was lit that 1989 evening because its flame would give warmth to women across the world. This is the story of that fire, of that man who burned, and of the woman who stood and watched. This is the story of Kiranjit and Deepak Ahluwalia.

Welcome to Chai & Chithi, a segment where we read some of the scariest, most terrifying, and most haunting stories that YOU send in to us. In this week’s episode, we’re reading:

To send us your scary stories to read, write to us at staydesi [at] thedesistudios [dot] com.

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In August of 1967 when summer rolled to an end and students from all over the world flocked to the United States to begin their college education in the country of their dreams, one 23 year old young man was also boarding a flight from Bengal in India to the city of Berkeley in California. Nobody knew that this one man walking the airport with them or sharing the same flight with them was going to go on to change not only the country he was entering but the world. This is the story of that one man and the woman he simply couldn’t let go of. This is the story of Prosenjit Poddar and Tatiana Tarasoff.

The story I have for you today is one that took Sri Lanka by storm. Not just when it happened in 2005, but again in 2019, almost 15 years after the crime. This is the story of a 19-year-old Swedish Sri Lankan, a young girl much like any of us, and someone she had warned her family about for months now. This is the story of power, influence and justice. This is the story of Yvonne Jonnson.

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Welcome to Chai & Chithi, a segment where we read some of the scariest, most terrifying, and most haunting stories that YOU send in to us. In this week’s episode, we’re reading:

To send us your scary stories to read, write to us at staydesi [at] thedesistudios [dot] com.

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