An Indian man narrowly escaped being cremated alive after he regained consciousness while already laid on a funeral pyre ready to be set alight.
The incident followed a doctor’s failure to perform a postmortem examination, medical officials said on Saturday, November 23.
Rohitash Kumar, a 25-year-old man with speaking and hearing difficulties, was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, on Thursday after falling sick.
Reports indicate he had suffered an epileptic seizure. However, a doctor declared him dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Rather than conducting the mandatory postmortem to confirm the cause of death, medical staff sent Kumar’s body to the mortuary and then for cremation in line with Hindu funeral rites.
Singh, the chief medical officer of the hospital, told AFP, “A doctor had prepared the postmortem report without actually doing the postmortem, and the body was then sent for cremation.”
Just as the funeral pyre was about to be lit, Kumar’s body began to move. Singh explained, “Shortly before the pyre was to be lit, Rohitash’s body started movements. He was alive and was breathing.”
Kumar was rushed back to the hospital, but he was confirmed dead on Friday, November 22, during treatment.
In response to the shocking incident, authorities have suspended three doctors, and police have opened an investigation.
