Jaipur: An Indian man woke up on a funeral pyre moments before it was set on fire after a doctor skipped an autopsy, medical officials said on Saturday.
Rohitash Kumar, 25, who was suffering from speech and hearing difficulties, fell ill and was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu in the western state of Rajasthan on Thursday.
Indian media reported that he suffered an epileptic seizure, and the doctor declared his death upon his arrival at the hospital.
But instead of performing an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death, doctors sent him to the morgue, where he would then be cremated according to Hindu rituals.
D Singh, chief medical officer at the hospital, said Agence France-Presse That the doctor “prepared a post-mortem report without actually performing an autopsy, and the body was then sent for cremation.”
“Shortly before lighting the pyre, Rohitash’s body started moving,” Singh said, adding that “he was alive and breathing.”
Kumar was taken to hospital for the second time, but his death was confirmed on Friday during treatment.
The authorities suspended the services of three doctors and the police opened an investigation.