Hoping to resurrect him, Chamba woman keeps son's corpse for months

A woman reportedly lived with her 20-year-old son's body for months believing that her prayers and 'divine powers will resurrect him from dead'.

The incident was reported from Rei panchyayat of tribal Pangi sub-division in Chamba district.

The matter came to light after the woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging self following the death of her 15-year-old daughter, who was undergoing treatment for some illness at Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College, Chamba.

Chamba superintendent of police (SP) S Arul Kumar said the Purthi police received information that a woman has committed suicide at her home in Rei panchayat.

When the police team reached the spot, her husband told them that for the past few months, he was in Chamba for the treatment of his daughter. On Wednesday, when he returned home after cremating his daughter, he found his wife's body.

While gathering clues, cops opened another room and found the son's body on bed. The bodies were taken to Chamba and handed over to the family after conducting autopsy. It is suspected that the son had died around four months back.

Inquest proceedings have been initiated under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the SP said.

Meanwhile, Rei panchayat pradhan Pyare Lal said the woman was superstitious and was into shamanic practices.

Pangi police station in-charge Nitin Chauhan said the cause of death of the son can be ascertained only after postmortem reports come. Police said the woman used to claim to have magical powers that could resurrect the dead.

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