Bhoot and pret
Hindi words for the restless dead: the ghost left behind by an untimely death or unfinished funeral rites.
Also: bhut, bhoota, pret, preta, bhootni
In north Indian speech a bhoot is a ghost, and in Hindu texts a pret is the spirit of someone whose funeral rites were incomplete, or who died suddenly or in violence. The belief is that such a spirit lingers near its old home or a particular tree, and can trouble the living. The remedy within Hindu practice is ritual: shraddha offerings, and at Gaya in Bihar, the rite called pind daan, which is held to free ancestors from this state. Families may also consult an ojha or a priest. Bhoot is also the Hindi word for the past. Tamil, Bengali and other languages have their own words for the haunting dead.