Read The Horrific True Story Of Shakereh Khaleeli On Whom "Dancing On The Grave" Is Based

Certain crimes stay fresh in our memories no matter how many years pass. If Nirbhaya is one such case for our generation, it's Shakereh Khaleeli's case for our previous generation. A gruesome case that makes our stomachs churn and makes us wish that we could erase it from history is the ghastly murder of Shakereh Khaleeli.

Amazon Prime Video released a documentary drama titled ">Dancing on the Grave on Friday based on the true events that led to the murder of Shakereh Khaleeli, a wealthy heiress who was buried alive by her second husband, self-styled godman Shradanand. The series is helmed by Patrik Graham, known for Ghoul and Betaal. The documentary series is bankrolled by India Today Originals, which is known for making real-life horror documentaries like The Indian Predator.

Real Story Of Shakereh Khaleeli

Born into a wealthy Indian-Persian family in Madras in 1947, Shakereh was raised in Singapore, where she completed her schooling. At the age of 18, Shakereh was married to her first cousin, Akbar Mirza Khaleeli, who worked with the Indian Foreign Service. The couple had four daughters. Due to his profession, Akbar was constantly travelling, which led to their marriage hitting a rough patch.

While Akbar was in Iran, Shakereh was in Bangalore, developing her family's real estate business. In 1982, Shakereh met Shradanad, a self-styled godman. After Akbar returned from Iran in 1985, Shakereh divorced him, and their four daughters moved to Italy to stay with their father. Six months later, Shakereh married Shradanand and settled in Bangalore. However, the couple often quarrelled over Shakereh’s daughters from the previous marriage.

After the daughters returned to India in 1990, Shakereh's second daughter, Sabah, was regularly in contact with her mother over the phone. However, the daughter stopped receiving calls from her mother in 1991, which raised doubts.

After months of asking Shradanand about Shakereh's whereabouts and him evading the questions, Shakereh's daughter Sabah filed a habeas corpus petition in 1992. Shakereh, who had given Shradanand the right to enjoy all her properties, lived a lavish life for three years while evading her family and the police. He claimed that Shakereh was on a long vacation.

Finally, in May 1994, the Karnataka police discovered Shakereh's body buried deep in the courtyard of her own house. Shradanand himself led the police to the spot where he had buried Shakereh, and her remains were exhumed.

Shradanand murdered Shakereh on April 28, 1991. He poisoned Shakereh’s tea, then dragged her all the way to the courtyard and buried her alive over a mattress, which was enclosed within a coffin and buried in an already dug pit in the courtyard. When Shakereh's body was exhumed, one of her hands was found to be tightly clutching the mattress, proving that she had been buried alive.

The motive behind Shradanand's murder of his wife, Shakereh, was greed. Shakereh was the heiress of a wealthy family, and her grandfather was the Diwan of Mysore. In 1987, he even got power of attorney over all of Shakereh’s properties.

After Shradanand admitted to the crime, he was taken into judicial custody. This was the first time in India's history that DNA testing was used to identify the deceased. This was also the first time the exhumation process was documented on video in India. The trial began in 1994, and in 2005, he was sentenced to death by hanging.

However, Shradanand appealed in 2006, and a 2008 judgement sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 2022, Shradanand, who is now 83 years old, appealed to the Supreme Court to release him like Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins were released. He also cited the fact that he had spent 29 years in prison without parole. His council also stated that he is suffering from several age-related ailments.

According to recent updates Shradanand who is currently in the central jail in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh has sought a stay on the web series claiming that it was "adversely affecting his legal rights"

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