Boy who remembered his own murder: The story of Titu Singh

A young Titu Toran Singh (PC: The Desi Crime Podcast)

Titu was only 18 months old, just a toddler, when he started telling his mother about his other family members which included a wife, kids and also about his own murder! It was all happening in a small village of Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

This is the chilling tale of Titu Toran Singh who was born on December 12, 1983. At the age when toddlers start speaking their first words which is normally maa, Titu said, ‘This is not my home, I am not from here’.As a kid, he would also complain about his present family's modest lifestyle and insisted that he used to travel in a car and repeatedly asked to be taken to his home. What’s more astonishing is that he told his name was Suresh who was murdered in his past life.

He even claimed that he owned a radio shop in Agra. His extraordinary story went on to attract researchers and international media and theories of reincarnation.The mystery of past life where the boy was shot dead

What initially sounded like a toddler's made-up story took a disturbing turn when his family eventually found a real shop called Suresh Radio, whose owner, Suresh Verme, had been shot dead in 1983. The boy was known as Toran Singh, better known as Titu.

The case has resurfaced in conversations following Titu's rare, full-length podcast interview with The Desi Crime Podcast, released on June 8, 2024. The 55-minute episode, titled Reborn for Revenge: The Mysterious Case of Titu Singh, offers an opportunity to revisit a story that has fascinated people since the 1980s.Titu had also appeared in a BBC programme.The story of reincarnation

Titu's family ()

“Mujhe apne pichle janam ka sab kuch yaad hai” (I remember everything).As per his previous interviews, Titu began speaking at approximately 18 months. One of his earliest reported statements was that his mother should ask his grandfather to look after his wife and children because he was worried about them.He reportedly said he came from Agra but did not know how he had ended up in Baad, the village where he was growing up. His complaints were unusually specific for a toddler. He disliked having to travel on foot or by bus, saying he had previously travelled by car.

He compared his mother's clothes unfavourably with the beautiful saris worn by his supposed wife and described his other house as much bigger.He also repeatedly asked to meet people he called his brother Raja Babu and sister Susheela. He cried almost everyday because he wanted to return to what he described as his real home.The shop was real

They found Suresh Radio, the shop he claimed (PC: The Desi Crime Podcast)

In April 1987, when his father went to Agra without him, Titu became upset. He also said that he owned a transistor-radio shop in Sadar Bazaar, and that he was a smuggler.It was then his elder brother and his friend decided to investigate the matter. They found the shop and approached its owner's widow, Uma Verme. She confirmed that her husband, Suresh Verme, had owned the business and was shot dead on August 28, 1983, at 30 years of age.The shop, the widow and the details he reportedly rememberedWhen Suresh's family visited Baad, Titu reportedly immediately recognised Uma, his parents and two of his brothers.

He named the deceased man's two children by their nicknames, Mono and Tono. Not only this, he also narrated a family trip and recalled details about their home and Suresh's white car.He also described the circumstances of the murder, saying that three men had stopped him near his house and one had shot him.The most astonishing episode took place at the radio shop

The birthmark that resembles bullet wound (PC: The Desi Crime Podcast)

Then Suresh's relatives tried to trick the child by taking him to a similar shop belonging to Suresh's brother and presenting it as his former establishment.

Titu immediately rejected it. At the actual Suresh Radio, he identified a photograph of Suresh as himself. He also pointed out the drawer where cash had been kept. He also recognised the shop's manager.He also questioned the presence of a showcase, which had been installed after Suresh's death.As per reports, Titu was able to correctly identify 10 people and four places from Suresh’s life.The birthmarks added to the complicationSuresh's relatives noticed a circular birthmark on the right side of Titu's temple, resembling a bullet-entry wound.

They also noticed marks towards the back of his head and a feature resembling a mark Suresh had reportedly possessed on the crown of his head.These observations became an important part of the case, particularly because Titu's parents had reportedly noticed the physical feature before connecting it to Suresh's death.What does psychology say about such memories?

Titu Singh during an interview in 2024 (PC: The Desi Crime Podcast)

Titu's case has raised several questions. One of the most intriguing psychological questions: how can a young child develop such a strong sense of identity around a person he has never apparently met?One possible explanation researchers and psychologists consider in cases involving unusual childhood memories is cryptomnesia.

It refers to a phenomenon in which someone recalls information but does not remember where they originally encountered it.Another important psychological consideration is childhood suggestibility. Young children are still developing their understanding of identity, memory and the distinction between imagination and reality.A boy who did not want to talk about his deathAn excerpt from the BBC interview, which featured the case in 1990, shows the young Titu recognising Suresh's photograph at the radio shop and commenting on changes made to the premises. When questioned about his supposed death, he reportedly hid his face and said he did not want to talk about it.His story’s most unsettling part is not whether Titu was Suresh Verme reborn. It is that a child who was barely 18-months remembered his previous, past or old life.