Noida: Woman burnt alive' on funeral pyre after hospital declared her dead

Noida: Uttar Pradesh police are investigating the death of a 21-year-old woman who was allegedly alive and breathing when placed on the funeral pyre.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the woman was earlier declared dead by Sharada Hospital in Noida around 11:45 pm, eight hours before she was burnt on the pyre on Monday morning. Her death certificate had quoted lung infection as the cause of death.

However, the woman’s brother who found her death suspicious called the Aligarh Police. By the time the police reached the cremation site and stopped the funeral, 70 per cent of the body had been burnt. The charred body was then sent for post-mortem.

A two-doctor panel then concluded that the woman had died due to ‘shock caused by being burnt alive’ and she was breathing when she was on the funeral pyre. This was concluded after they found charred particles inside her lungs and windpipe.

“This happens when someone is burnt alive. The particles go inside with the breath. If a person is dead, such particles cannot reach the lungs and the windpipe. So, the doctors concluded that the woman was burnt alive on the pyre,” an official was quoted as saying.

An FIR was lodged against the husband and 10 other family members after the report was made public. The accused are missing and no arrests have been made yet.

On the other hand, Sharada Hospital maintained its stance that the woman died of a lung infection. “The patient was brought in extremely critical condition and our doctors tried their best to save her. We stick to our stand that the patient had died due to lung infection on Sunday night,” Ajeet, spokesperson of Sharda University was quoted as saying.