They discover that years ago, the town was run by a rigid, superstitious cult. They had labeled a young girl, Maya, as a "shrap" (curse) because of her psychic abilities and burned her alive in the town’s temple to "purify" the land. Maya’s rage split her soul: the innocent part became Sia, while the vengeful part created this nightmare dimension to punish the villagers.

The town is trapped in a perpetual gray monsoon. Instead of snow, gray ash falls from the sky—the remains of an underground coal mine fire that has burned for decades. Anita encounters a local police officer, Rathore, who followed her. Together, they hear a rhythmic, metallic clanking—the sound of the Dhobi (The Executioner) , a massive figure dragging a rusted, oversized iron paddle instead of a sword.

Anita, a frantic mother, is driving her young daughter, Sia, to an abandoned colonial-era hill station. Sia has been sleepwalking and screaming the name "Shantigiri" in her night terrors. Against her husband’s warnings, Anita enters the dense forest surrounding the town. Suddenly, a dark figure appears in the road. Anita swerves, crashes, and wakes up to find the passenger seat empty.

Should there be more focus on the or the horror ?