A 74-year-old resident of Salem in Tamil Nadu who was presumed dead and kept in a freezer was rescued a day later on Tuesday after he was found to be alive, police said Wednesday.
Balasubramanyam Kumar had been ailing for the last couple of months with age related diseases and had been living with his 70-year old younger brother Sarvanan at Kandhampatti village in Salem district.
According to Sooramangalam police station officials when Sarvanan tried to wake up his elder brother Kumar on Monday evening, he did not respond despite several attempts. Seeing no response from Kumar, Sarvanan ‘presumed’ that his brother who had been ailing was dead and asked a funeral service company to supply a freezer box and called several relatives to inform them about last rites planned for the next day.
However, when employees of the funeral service company came to collect back the freezer on Tuesday before the funeral, they saw that Kumar’s hands were moving and raised an alarm. But Sarvanan claimed that this was due to ‘fits’ that his brother had and said the movement must have been due to the ‘soul not having left the body.’
After the police were informed, they immediately shifted Kumar to the nearby government hospital where he is said to be recovering. A Sooramangalam police station official claimed that ‘it looks like it has not been done deliberately and the 70-year-old younger brother Sarvanan also does not seem to have all his wits about him.”
{{/usCountry}}After the police were informed, they immediately shifted Kumar to the nearby government hospital where he is said to be recovering. A Sooramangalam police station official claimed that ‘it looks like it has not been done deliberately and the 70-year-old younger brother Sarvanan also does not seem to have all his wits about him.”
{{/usCountry}}The police have registered a case under IPC section 287 (conduct endangering human life) and sec 336 (endangering personal safety of others) and are investigating the case.