Published By: Alfaraz Laique

Is ‘Muhnochwa’ true or an urban legend

Imagined your face being scratched by an unknown force and the next thing you remember is waking up with no sights of that creature or force, similar kind of stories surfaced in 2002 and was mainly confined to the rural regions of Uttar Pradesh.

During 2002 electricity wasn't available in rural areas especially during the night and it was common in the villages of Uttar Pradesh for people to sleep on the roof and according to eyewitnesses, they became easy targets for  Mohnuchwa. It is said that Muhnochwaonly attacked in the night and preyed on individuals and avoided to attack groups. The creature was described as hawk-like, with metal claws that aimed at scratching victim faces, leaving them with pain. His attacks were fast, vicious and guys he disappeared right after attacking his victims, leaving no trace of his presence.

The terror

The fear of Muhnochwaterrorised the villages to that extent that the temples held sermons to ward away Muhnochwa while some villagers stayed up all night around bonfires with guns, sticks and water  canons. No one knows how Muhnochwa looked like or what it was some people said it looked like a giant insect whereas others called it to be an unidentified creature with soulless eyes. People said that it gave electric shocks before it lunged and scratched people's face. A lot of things were said about Muhnochwa of some calling it a genetically engineered insect while some called it extraterrestrial creature. Whoever tried to chase it was unsuccessful.

The impact

Each day the fear of Muhnochwa grew and it took villages by storm when some people came as victims of Muhnochwa with scratches on their faces and hands. The situation became so worse that people started to beat whatever they saw in the shadows from relatives to stray animals. Some people said water to be a weakness of Muhnochwa and people kept bottles of water with them during the night. Even the police were helpless as there was no evidence for the existence of it, but they knew something was not right. Despite rapid checking and enquiring villagers about Muhnochwa, police couldn't come to any solution.  Suddenly, people stopped reporting about it and reporting of Muhnochwa  it’sphenomenon died right after it.

It, however, did catch the fancy of many people, from media houses to educational institutions. IIT Kanpur was asked by the UP government to study about it, however, they concluded that it was only a scare. Soon people started to call it a terror based on rumours and nothing more.