Missing since August 5
A surprising case has emerged from Kapurthala, where a family performed the last rites of a body they believed belonged to their missing son, only to discover 15 days later that he was alive and lodged in jail.
Ravi Kumar, a resident of Kadupur village in Kapurthala, went missing from his home on August 5. After several attempts to trace him failed, his father and brother Amandeep approached the City Kapurthala police station on August 11 to report him missing.
Family mistakes unidentified body for Ravi
During the investigation, police showed the family a photograph of a decomposed body recovered near Kanjli Road. As the face was not recognisable, the family mistakenly identified the body as that of Ravi.
Believing that they had lost their son, the family carried out the last rites of the unidentified body on August 13. The traditional bhog ceremony was subsequently held on August 15.
Phone call reveals Ravi was alive
The situation changed on September 2 when the family received a call from an employee of the Central Jail in Kapurthala. They were informed that Ravi Kumar was actually lodged in the jail.
According to the information available, Ravi had been arrested by Jalandhar Police around a month earlier in a case related to vagrancy and was subsequently sent to jail.
The family reached the jail the following day and found Ravi alive. The discovery brought immense relief to the family, which had believed that their son had died and had already completed his last rites.
Identity of the unidentified body remains a question
While the family has now been reunited with Ravi, questions remain over the identity of the unidentified body that was cremated on August 13.
The case has raised concerns over how the body was identified when the face was not recognisable. Authorities are now expected to establish the identity of the deceased and examine how the mix-up occurred.
