Tharangambadi village in shock as ‘dead’ man returns home after kin performed last rites

CHENNAI: In a bizarre incident, a 62-year-old man, who was presumed dead and cremated by his family, returned home alive, leaving his family and police in a fix. Police are presently investigating to ascertain the identity of the wrongly cremated body, said a Daily Thanthi report.

Selvaraj from Maruthur village in Tharangambadi of Nagapattinam district had gone missing a few days ago. On December 22, when a body washed ashore in the Cauvery river flowing through Melapathi village in Sembanar Koil Block, residents of Selvaraj’s village identified it as Selvaraj’s after which his family cremated the body, the report added.

However, two days ago, to everyone’s shock and confusion, Selvaraj returned to his village, alive and well. It was later revealed that Selvaraj’s wife and children reside in a village in Tiruvarur district while Selvaraj had travelled to his native village of Maruthur. After a few days, he went to Erode to meet his employer and had been working there. Taking the news of his ‘cremation’ in good humour, Selvaraj assured them he would live to be a 100 years old and had no plans of dying anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the police are probing to ascertain the identity of the person cremated as questions linger about the flawed investigation process which led to the case of the mistaken identity and funeral.