Morang. 36-year-old Padam Bahadur Rai of Letang Municipality-5 Kheruwa in Morang was considered dead by his family and had been buried. However, after Padma Bahadur returned home alive on the full moon day of Dasain, serious questions have been raised about the identity of the body, which was cremated with joy in the family.
Padam Bahadur was not in touch with his family since last January. His mental health condition is poor, he used to disappear from home without informing anyone and after some time he would return on his own or his family would find him. However, after he left home in January, his family did not hear from him for a long time.
Meanwhile, on the 26th of May, a pedestrian was seriously injured in a collision with a motorcycle on the Chatra-Pakli road section located in Barahkshetra municipality-4 of Sunsari. He was taken to Virat Teaching Hospital at Budhiganga in Morang for treatment. He died the next day during treatment.
As the identity of the deceased could not be revealed, the police kept the body in the mortuary of Koshi Hospital and issued a public notice to search for the next of kin. Padam Bahadur’s mother, who reached the hospital after seeing the notice, identified the body as her son’s. The police then handed over the body to the family.
The family took the body to the Chisang river and cremated it, believing it to be that of Padam Bahadur. In grief over the death of their son, the family did not even administer the vaccine on Dasai this year. However, the family members were surprised when Padam Bahadur suddenly returned home on the full moon day.
Padam Bahadur, who returned home, said that he was in India. However, it is not yet clear where he stayed since January, how he reached India and why he did not come in contact with his family for so long.
After Padam Bahadur was found alive, the body buried by the family has been confirmed to be that of another person. Now the real identity of the person who died in the accident and the challenge of searching for his relatives has come before the police.
Morang Police Chief Superintendent of Police Kavit Katwal has informed that the details of the body in the government records will be corrected and the investigation will be started again to reveal the real identity of the person who died in the accident.
To find out more about the incident, a police team led by Police Inspector Sagar Sah of the Area Police Office Letang went to Padam Bahadur’s house. According to the police, the family will be called to Koshi Hospital to withdraw the documents prepared during the identification of the body and the process of revealing the identity of the real deceased will be initiated.
According to the preliminary estimate of the police, Padam Bahadur’s mother may have identified the dead body after seeing its resemblance to her own son. However, the police said that how the identity of the dead body was ascertained and what procedures were followed before handing it over to the family will be revealed through the investigation.
The real relatives of the person who died in the accident have not yet been contacted. Meanwhile, the police said that Padam Bahadur’s family has also received the insurance compensation amount based on the dead body. After Padam Bahadur is found alive, the process of returning the money will be started as per the rules.