A concise synthesis of a Kolkata-area case where a deceased male appears to reincarnate as a female while retaining masculine behaviors—and what today’s literature adds.

This feature builds on Dr. Walter Semkiw’s archived presentation of the Nishith De → Dolon (Champa) Mitra case at ReincarnationResearch.com. We have carefully retained Walter’s foundational narrative and relevant research (e.g., Dr. Ian Stevenson, Dr. Jim Tucker) while expanding the piece with contemporary context, forum insights, and ethical framing for 2025.

Dr. Walter Semkiw’s profile summarizes a case first investigated by psychiatrist Ian Stevenson: Dolon Champa Mitra, born in Calcutta (Kolkata) on August 8, 1967, began speaking between ages 1–2 and, by about 3½, described a previous life as a boy from Burdwan (Bardhaman). She provided multiple details: the family’s relative wealth (“heaps of money”), proximity to a Maharajah’s palace (see map shown below), and aspects of the household; specific names were sparse.

Dolon’s Descriptions of a Past Life in Burdwan

After her mother rebuked her for preferring boys’ clothing, Dolon Mitra made a series of detailed statements about what she believed was her previous life.
Each point was later checked by Dr. Ian Stevenson and found to correspond closely with the documented life of Nishith De, a young man from Burdwan, West Bengal, who died in 1964.

Home and Family Details

• Dolon said she had lived in Burdwan, in a large two-story house “like a palace” with marble or mosaic floors and a separate shrine room.
  → True for the De family home, which stood less than 300 meters from the Maharaja’s palace.
• She described her father as stout and fair-skinned, her grandfather as living with them, and a “fat aunt”—all consistent with Nishith De’s family.
• Dolon noted that her past-life mother wore jewelry and fine dresses, unlike her own plain-dressing mother.
  → Again verified for Nishith’s household.

Surroundings and Animals

• She remembered deer and peacocks near the house.
  → The De family kept peacocks; deer roamed in the Maharaja’s adjacent park—suggesting a blended recollection.

Personal Possessions and Lifestyle

• Dolon said her father had “heaps of money,” owned shiny brass buckets, and kept many books in the home.
• She insisted that in her room there was an almirah (cabinet) containing a blue-striped shirt and matching pants—her favorite outfit.
  → A favorite blue-striped shirt was later confirmed to have belonged to Nishith De.

Education and Sports

• Dolon stated she had studied at Raj College, played soccer and cricket, and suffered a leg injury while playing soccer.
  → Nishith De attended Raj College and had a chronic knee problem from a soccer injury.

Family Event and Accident Memory

• Dolon recalled a car accident on the way to a wedding, saying one of her relatives died.
  → In 1960, Nishith’s father’s car struck a tree en route to a wedding, killing Nishith’s uncle. Nishith mourned deeply and visited survivors in hospital.

Illness and Death

• Dolon said she had pain in the back of her head and neck, was hospitalized “for a long time,” fell from her bed, and later died there.
  → Hospital records from the Calcutta Tropical School of Medicine confirm that Nishith De was admitted on July 4, 1964, suffered a fall from his bed, entered a coma, and died on July 25, 1964.

---

Summary

Out of more than a dozen specific statements, nearly all were verified through interviews and hospital or family documentation.
Only one partial discrepancy—the mention of deer at the family home—was plausibly explained as a contextual mix-up with the Maharaja’s nearby park.
This cluster of verified correspondences makes Dolon’s case one of the most detailed gender-change cases in Stevenson’s Indian files.

Further Investigation

Stevenson linked these statements to Nishith De, a young man from Burdwan who died in his 20s after a brief illness; numerous statements were reportedly checked against records and informants with high agreement. Dolon also exhibited masculine-typed interests and behaviors unusual for her peer group, a point central to the case’s significance. [1]

Independent overviews highlight Dolon as a comparatively rare gender-change example within the children-who-remember-past-lives literature. [2] Several summaries note that Stevenson regarded the case as “adequately solved” within his evidentiary framework, based on the number and specificity of matched statements. [3]

What’s new?

Gender variance across cases. Stevenson and later UVA Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) researchers have discussed intersections between reincarnation cases and gender nonconformity/dysphoria. In South and Southeast Asia, Stevenson documented cultural interpretations and a subset of cases in which cross-gender behaviors coincided with memories of a previous life of the other sex. He cautioned against overgeneralization and stressed careful interviewing, documentation, and controls for information leakage. [4]

Case-feature stability. Comparative analyses suggest that recurrent features—early-age onset of talk about a past life, emotional intensity, and behavioral carryovers (including phobias and gender-typed preferences)—appear stable across generations and regions, though base rates differ by culture and research access. [5]

2020s literature. Recent reviews continue to catalog child cases and emphasize verification through records and third-party informants, along with prospective recording where feasible. While Dolon’s case is historical, contemporary authors still cite it when describing gender-change cases and “carryover” of behaviors/preferences. [6]

Ethics—2025 lens.

• Child privacy. Modern best practices minimize the publication of personal identifiers, school names, and current addresses.
• Non-pathologizing language. We describe Dolon’s behaviors as gender-typed preferences or nonconforming behaviors without imposing value judgments.
• Balance of claims. We distinguish reported/verified statements from interpretations about identity and causation.

Pattern signals:

• RecallMethod: Spontaneous early childhood speech (ages ~2–4). [1][2]
• EvidenceTypes: Verified statements, behavioral carryover (gender-typed play/interests); partial documentation via medical and family records. [1][3]
• Geography: Past life Burdwan (West Bengal) → present life Kolkata/Narendrapur; short interval (~3 years) between deaths and birth. [1][2]
• RelationshipContext: Stranger families—no known pre-existing contact. [1]

Closing reflection

For readers new to this topic, Dolon’s story is not a proof claim; it is a data point in a body of cases with recurring features—early speech, emotionally charged recall, and behavioral continuities—that merit careful, respectful study. The best path forward blends archival preservation (like Walter’s work), open methods, and child-centered ethics.

“Your gift keeps the research rigorous, sustains the archive, and fuels the outreach that helps more families find answers.”

References

1. Walter Semkiw — “A Boy Reincarnates as a Girl but Retains Masculine Traits: The Past Life Story of Nishith De | Dolon Mitra.”
   https://reincarnationresearch.com/a-boy-reincarnates-as-a-girl-but-retains-masculine-traits-the-past-life-story-of-nishith-de-dolon-mitra/
2. Psi Encyclopedia — “Children with Past-Life Memories (overview).”
   https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/children-past-life-memories-overview
3. Ian Stevenson (2016 edition) — Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation (PDF excerpt, University of Virginia).
   https://pearl-hifi.com/11_Spirited_Growth/01_Books/01_PLR_Lit/Stevenson_2016_Children_Who_Remember_Previous_Lives__A_Question_of_Reincarnation_496pgs..pdf
4. Ian Stevenson — “The Southeast Asian Interpretation of Gender Dysphoria,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 1977 (UVA Division of Perceptual Studies PDF).
   https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/360/2017/03/STE9_Journal-of-Nervous-and-Mental-Disease.pdf
5. J. Keil & I. Stevenson — “Do Cases of the Reincarnation Type Show Similar Features Across Generations?” 1999 (UVA DOPS).
   https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/360/2016/12/STE47.pdf
6. User Research Thread (Deep Research URL — ChatGPT Share)
   https://chatgpt.com/s/dr_68f6c17fa3108191b0a374a5a7e2886f

Beyond its rarity as a gender-change example, the Dolon Mitra case underscores the human dimension of these reports: children navigating persistent memories while families and researchers work to balance empathy with evidence. It reminds us that method and compassion can—and must—coexist in this field.

Beyond its rarity as a gender-change example, the Dolon Mitra case underscores the human dimension behind these reports: children navigating memories that feel real, while families and researchers work to hold both empathy and discipline in equal measure. It is this balance—between heart and method—that keeps reincarnation research both humane and credible.

Scan the QR Code to Share Across Devices: