Rajasthan man awakes on funeral pyre

Media reports said the man had had an epileptic seizure, and a doctor declared him dead on arrival at the hospital.
A worker carries wood on a hand cart as multiple funeral pyres burn at a crematorium. Representational image. (AP)
A worker carries wood on a hand cart as multiple funeral pyres burn at a crematorium. Representational image. (AP)
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JAIPUR: A 25-year-old man in Rajasthan awoke on a funeral pyre moments before it was to be set on fire after a doctor skipped a postmortem, medical officials said Saturday.

Rohitash Kumar, who had speaking and hearing difficulties, had fallen sick and was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan on Thursday.

Media reports said he had had an epileptic seizure, and a doctor declared him dead on arrival at the hospital.

But instead of the required postmortem to ascertain the cause of death, doctors sent him to the mortuary, and then to be burned according to Hindu rites.

D Singh, chief medical officer of the hospital, told AFP that a doctor had "prepared the postmortem report without actually doing the postmortem, and the body was then sent for cremation".

Singh said that "shortly before the pyre was to be lit, Rohitash's body started movements", adding that "he was alive and was breathing".

Kumar was rushed to hospital for a second time, but was confirmed dead on Friday during treatment.

Authorities have suspended the services of three doctors and the police have launched an investigation.

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