In Odisha, a family mourned a living person for a month, mistaking him for the dead

In the Indian state of Odisha, a family spent nearly a month mourning 29-year-old Sanatan Naik, whom they thought was dead. Relatives held a funeral, cremated the body and began to observe mourning rituals - but the man unexpectedly appeared at home alive. India Today writes about the incident.

The man disappeared at the end of July after he left home on a bicycle. His relatives searched for him for a long time, but to no avail. About ten days later, law enforcement officers found the badly decomposed body of an unknown person in a rice field near the Nike family home. It was in the water for a long time, so it was difficult to establish its identity.

Later, relatives identified the body by clothing and decided that it was Sanatan. After handing over the body, they held a funeral, but almost a month later the family received an unexpected call from the police. They said the man was alive and they would bring him home. Now law enforcement officers have to figure out whose body was actually cremated.