Vetala

The Vetala arises from the spirit of one who died a violent or premature death, unable to pass into the afterlife. In the Baital Pachisi, the sage Vikramaditya encounters a Vetala hanging from a tree, which tests him with riddles.

Takes possession of a human corpse, animating it. The host body is typically cold and pale, hanging upside down from trees near cremation grounds, hair wild and uncombed.

Vetalas are said to be able to possess human bodies for malicious purposes and manipulate death and the corpse. They can also be bound by certain restrictions or rituals that prevent them from carrying out their malevolent actions.