MEERUT: The family of 70-year-old
Chandra Prajapati
from Chirau village in UP's
Saharanpur
, sank into depression ever since his 27-year-old son
Pramod Kumar
was "cremated" on Jan 31. Someone had brought a picture of Kumar lying in a mortuary in Muzaffarnagar, thereafter,
Prajapati
rushed there and brought the body, which was handed over to him after "identification".
Cremation took place the same night and all rites were concluded.
Kumar had left home to work at a restaurant in Haridwar a week ago. He did not carry a phone. On Thursday night, local villagers were in for a big surprise to find Kumar walking back home, unaware of what had happened since Jan 31. Incidentally, the body which was cremated had the same identification marks like a tattoo 'PK' on one arm, Prajapati said on Saturday. "Though the face was disfigured due to postmortem, it resembled my son. I had no reason not to believe it was my son's remains," he said.
The development was equally shocking for Kumar. "When I reached home, I saw the frame of my photograph garlanded. When news of my homecoming spread across the village, people began pouring in to see for themselves that I was alive," Kumar said.
Ex-village head,
Rakesh Kumar
, said, "Initially, villagers thought that Pramod's ghost had returned as he came home at night. Later, we realised the family had cremated the wrong person."
English (US) ·