Forget the campfire ghost tales of Sanjay Van, Delhi apparently has a bona fide 'haunted' spot right in the middle of the unassuming Chanakyapuri ridge area. Malcha Mahal has long been associated with the strange and disturbed, thanks to a range of reasons.

After the area was acquired by the British India government under the Land and acquisition act, 1894, those who refused to give up their land here were killed, and those who willingly gave it up had to resort to living in poverty and misery in nearby villages.

Begum Wilayat Mahal of Awadh, the Begum of Oudh and the great granddaughter of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was given the palace by the Government of India in May 1985. This was done as compensation since these lands were seized from the Nawab by the British more than a century ago. However, misfortune and adversity would soon rear it's ugly head yet again.

On December 10, 2008, Begum Wilayat committed suicide by drinking crushed diamonds. She was 62 years old. She is survived by her daughter Princess Sakina Mahal, and son Prince Ali Raza, who still live in these ruins.

In the 70s, the Begum spent 10 years protesting at New Delhi Railway Station for the return of her ancestral property before Rajiv Gandhi finally took notice of her case, and the decade certainly took its toll, mentally and physically.