Minutes Before Cremation, 'Dead' Woman Found Alive In Odisha

A 86-year-old woman, who was presumed dead, was found alive on Monday moments before her last rites were to be performed at a crematorium in the pilgrim town of Puri.

The woman, P Laxmi, hailed from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, and she was presumed dead when she was on a visit to her son-in-law's house in the Polasara area of Odisha's Ganjam district, a family member said.

"As she did not open her eyes and there was no sign of breathing, we thought she was dead and informed others in the locality. We arranged a vehicle to carry the body to the Swargadwar crematorium at Puri from home for cremation," said Dharma Sethi, a family member of the woman.

However, she was found alive by the security guard and other staff at the Swargadwar when the family members were busy completing formalities for her cremation, he said.

Braja Kishore Sahu, a manager of the crematorium, said three documents-Aadhaar cards of the deceased and the applicant and the death certificate-are mandatory to perform cremation. The family could not produce the death certificate.

"When we were asking them to bring the death certificate from their local Sarpanch or other authorities, one of our security guards found the elderly woman breathing," Sahu said.

The Swargadwar staff called an ambulance and shifted her to Puri hospital.

"The health condition of the woman is critical. Her heart and kidneys were functioning, but her brain was not responding properly," said the doctor who attended to her at the hospital.