A kichkandi or kichkanya is formed when the body is not burned completely, usually a small piece of bone that got lucky. They are female. I don’t know what happens if a male is not properly cremated but a female becomes a kichkandi, so they say.

Typical description is long black hair that reaches down to their foot, pale skin, long nails, dressed in white sari, up to which is the description of any female ghost. Then how to recognize a kichkanya? Look at their feet and you will see the soles, because it is backwards. No it is not twisted. They are just backwards. But they can run, I hear. Oh, they can run. Both forward and backward.

They appear as pretty damsels in distress. Then number of things happen, either they lead you to the ghat (place where the dead are burned) and disappear or somehow let you find out about their feet, along the way. The idea is to scare you. Fun. Else you will be dating this really beautiful girl who is only free at night and always wears something long. And, you will notice you are becoming thinner and weaker. This is because she is sucking your life force.