The sinister draw of Indian true crime shows
BBC By Cherylann Mollan
BBC News, Mumbai
Rakhi*, 22, says she gets panicky when walking along a deserted street at night and looks over her shoulder obsessively to make sure no one's following her.
The psychology student who lives in India's financial capital, Mumbai, says she's a fan of true crime shows because she enjoys "watching how a criminal's mind works", but confesses to feeling anxious about her own safety after bingeing on them.
She is among thousands of Indians who are swiftly taking to popular and at times, sensationalist Indian true crime shows and podcasts on streaming platforms.
- Is India seeing a surge in grisly copycat murders?
These slickly-produced shows focus on Indian-born criminals and their evil deeds, shining a spotlight on the country's history of crime.
Docuseries like The Indian Predator traces the crimes of serial killers. House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths examines the controversial theories surrounding the deaths of 11 members of a family in capital Delhi. The Emmy award-winning drama series, Delhi Crime, is based on the horrific gang-rape of a woman in Delhi in 2012.
