BHOPAL: A labourer from Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur cremated after being presumed dead in an accident in Rajasthan walked home on his terhavi (13th day ritual), leading his family to realise that they had identified the wrong man and performed his last rites.
As the egregious episode of mistaken identity unfolded and Surendra Sharma (25) came back home on June 9, his family alerted Rajasthan Police.Cops arrived on Tuesday along with the family of the real deceased, now ide-ntified as Dhara Singh, and collected his ashes. Dhara’s kin have now objected to his cremation.
Surendra used to work in Jaipur. On May 26, an accident occurred in Sawai Madhopur’s Soorwal area and an unidentified injured man was referred to a hospital, where he died during treatment.
Soorwal station in-charge told TOI: “Normal procedure was followed for identification and pictures of the body were circulated. The kin of Surendra Sharma approached us, wrongly identified the body, took it home and cremated it. We are contemplating action against Surendra’s family.”
Asked about the mistake, Dharm Raj Sharma, Surendra’s uncle, said: “The videos and pictures were shared by Jaipur Police. The body resembled that of Surendra. Surendra’s elder brother (Devendra) identified the body.”
Dharm Raj claimed Surendra had not been calling home for the past two months and the family had no idea about his whereabouts. “We received information that he died in an accident. We were preparing for his 13th day rituals when his mother was shocked to receive a call from him.
As the egregious episode of mistaken identity unfolded and Surendra Sharma (25) came back home on June 9, his family alerted Rajasthan Police.Cops arrived on Tuesday along with the family of the real deceased, now ide-ntified as Dhara Singh, and collected his ashes. Dhara’s kin have now objected to his cremation.
Surendra used to work in Jaipur. On May 26, an accident occurred in Sawai Madhopur’s Soorwal area and an unidentified injured man was referred to a hospital, where he died during treatment.
Soorwal station in-charge told TOI: “Normal procedure was followed for identification and pictures of the body were circulated. The kin of Surendra Sharma approached us, wrongly identified the body, took it home and cremated it. We are contemplating action against Surendra’s family.”
Asked about the mistake, Dharm Raj Sharma, Surendra’s uncle, said: “The videos and pictures were shared by Jaipur Police. The body resembled that of Surendra. Surendra’s elder brother (Devendra) identified the body.”
Dharm Raj claimed Surendra had not been calling home for the past two months and the family had no idea about his whereabouts. “We received information that he died in an accident. We were preparing for his 13th day rituals when his mother was shocked to receive a call from him.