Villagers had found ‘no sign of life’.

A 52-year-old man had a miraculous escape from getting burnt to death when he came back to senses on a funeral pyre at the Laukhala village under the Surada Block in Odisha’s Ganjam district on October 13.

Thinking him to be dead, villagers from Luakhali had arranged for Simanchal Mallik’s funeral. He was a goat herd who did not return home on October 12. On October 13, villagers had found him inside a nearby jungle, said a relative of the victim, Murali Mallik.

Villagers say they had found no sign of life in him. So, his funeral was arranged. While the funeral pyre was about to be lit, it was found that Mr. Simanchal Mallik was trying to breath through his mouth. He was immediately taken to the Surada Community Health Centre, where he was declared to be alive and safe.

Mr. Simanchal Mallik said he had been suffering from a fever for the past four days. At around noon on October 12, while watching over goats grazing, he had become unconscious because of the fever. “My senses returned when my friends and relatives were about to burn my funeral pyre,” he said.