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Paranormal record / 2011

The Sri Lanka Grease Devil Panic

August 2011 · Nine districts across Sri Lanka, including Kahawatta, Puttalam, Kinniya, Trincomalee, Navanthurai (Jaffna), Batticaloa and Ampara, Sri Lanka
20Thinly documented Paranormal Being / humanoid 26 sources 1 real photos 2 videos

July 2011. A string of attacks on elderly women in Kahawatta revived an old figure of Sri Lankan folklore. The grease yaka. A man at night, smeared in black grease so no one could hold him. Within weeks the reports came from nine districts. Women described an intruder with steel claws or knives for fingers who came through roofs and hid in trees. Neighbours gave chase. Again and again, they said, he ran into police stations and military camps. The crowds turned on the camps. By 23 August at least five people were dead. Then, in the second week of September, it all stopped.

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Context

The grease yaka is an old figure in Sri Lanka. Traditionally he was a thief, naked or in his underwear, greased so that nobody could hold him. A nuisance more than a monster.

Sources (26, most influential first)

  1. Grease devil crisis in Sri Lanka · Wikipedia · Wiki, blog, podcast · wiki
  2. Demonic Violence and Moral Panic in Postwar Sri Lanka: Explaining the Grease Devil Crisis · LSE Research Online / Journal of Asian Studies· 2015 · Academic / paper of record · academic
  3. Jaffna: Brutal assault of civilians in Navanthurai · Groundviews / WATCHDOG· 2011-08-25 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
  4. Grease devil panic grips, at least 3 killed · Daily FT / Reuters· 2011-08-13 · Press, book, documentary · news
  5. Grease devil panic grips Sri Lanka · IOL / Reuters· 2011-08-12 · Press, book, documentary · news