- Bujji Aama’s family thought she was dead and arranged for her cremation
- But on the way to her funeral, a woman saw the 52-year-old open her eyes in the hearse
A woman thought to be dead woke up in her hearse just before she was about to be cremated.
Days earlier, 52-year-old Bujji Aamma from Berhampur, India, was seriously burned in a house fire on February 1.
She was taken to MKCG Medical College and Hospital for treatment, with burns covering half her body. She returned home but remained in a very bad condition.
Due to the family’s poor finances, they were unable to take her to another hospital for further treatment – and a few days later, on Monday, she did not open her eyes.
Aamma’s husband, Sibaram Palo, who thought she had died, arranged for her to be taken to the cremation ground in a hearse.
Due to the family’s poor finances, local residents donated money to help pay for the cremation ceremony (Stock Image)
He told Times of India: ‘We thought she was dead and informed others in the area to arrange for a hearse to take the body to the cremation ground.’
A woman, K Chiranjibi, who accompanied Aamma in the hearse, said they had almost finished assembling the funeral pyre when she opened her eyes.
Chiranjibi said: “Initially we were scared because we had never seen such an incident, although we had heard some stories.”
The hearse driver, Khetrabashi Sahu, who originally picked up Aamma’s ‘body’ from her home at 9am, was called just half an hour later to pick her up from the cremation ground, alive and breathing.
She was taken home in the same hearse.
According to the crematorium, local residents are not required to present a death certificate to perform the last rites of a family member.
The last rites are extremely important in Indian culture and strongly linked to the natural environment.
When the person dies, the body is placed on a lawn or on the ground. This symbolizes the death that takes place within the arms of the earth.
Special water is poured into the mouths of the dead, candles are lit and a rice bowl is placed near the body.
The body must then be taken to the crematorium with the eyes covered.
Luckily, Bujji Aamma’s family apparently missed this detail, allowing them to see her opening them.
This is not the first time that someone has woken up from the ‘dead’ in India.
Last year, in October, a newborn baby was believed to have been stillborn.
The incident happened in Silchar town.
The father, Ratan Das, 29, was told the news at the private hospital soon after his wife gave birth.
A death certificate was issued and it was only when they reached the crematorium that the newborn baby started crying.