An Acheri is the

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

or spirit of a little girl who was either murdered or abused and left to die. Acheris are also referred to as "hill

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

." They are often depicted with dark or unnatural eyes, a skeletal appearance, and a skin dress. It is said that they sleep during the day in the mountains or hilltops and become active at night. They sing while playing a small

tam-tam A gongFrom Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and are circular and fl ...

, and their voices are omens of the death of the person who hears it, or somebody (especially a child) close to that person. They are also said to bring

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

to children (and sometimes others) who come in contact with them. The Acheri are also said to bring death to the elderly or other people who are quite ill. Legend says to protect yourself from their curse, one must wear a bright red ribbon or red string tied around one's neck. Alternatively, one may wear red clothes or

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

References

Female ghosts Legendary creatures in Hindu mythology {{death-stub