'Dead' Odisha woman comes back to life minutes before cremation

ODISHA: A 52-year-old Odisha woman, who was believed to be dead in a fire incident at home and carried to a cremation ground, opened her eyes just before the pyre was to be set alight.

The incident occurred in Berhampur town in the southern district of Ganjam, the family said on Tuesday.

Family members of the woman who reside at Goods Shed Road admitted her to MKCG Medical College and Hospital, hours after returning home from the cremation ground on late Monday evening.

The woman belonging to a poor family suffered over 50 percent burn injuries on February 1 in a fire mishap at home and was admitted to the same hospital.

However, when the hospital authorities referred her to another medical facility, her husband took her home due to paucity of money. Since then, she has been struggling with her life, family sources said.

“On Monday, she was not opening her eyes and it appeared she was not breathing. We thought she might have died. We then informed others in the locality,” said Sibaram Palo, her husband.

Without consulting a doctor or trying to get a death certificate, he took the “body” to the nearby cremation ground at Bijipur in a hearse of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation.

“The funeral pyre was almost ready when she opened her eyes suddenly. We were initially shocked but when we started calling her, she responded. It is a miracle,” said Palo’s neighbour K Chiranjibi who accompanied the family members to the cremation ground.

The local corporator was informed and the same hearse was used to take her back home.

Later, she was admitted to the hospital again.