An Indian man was recently rescued from a pit that he had voluntarily been buried in for 8 hours in order to attain salvation and be reborn as a God.

Deeraj Kharol, a tantrik who had been living in a temple in Karocho ka Kheda village, Rajasthan, for a few years, last week announced that he planned to bury himself alive as part of a bizarre ritual to attain ‘samadhi’ (salvation) and be resurrected as a God three days later. Instead of talking some sense into him, enthusiastic villagers celebrated his decision and offered to aid him in any way, even digging a pit for him near the temple where he stayed. Last Wednesday, on the first day of Navratra, they buried him in the pit, as per his instructions.

Villagers from nearby villages and hamlets gathered for the big event, and, after covering the pit with stone slabs and mud, started worshiping at the spot. Luckily for Kharol, news of his ritual quickly spread among the local community and reached the ears of the station house officer of a regional police station, who rushed to Karocho ka Kheda village with an intervention team.

Officer Mansingh Dev and his colleagues reportedly arrived at the pit that Deeraj Kharol was buried in at around 2 am on Thursday, but were greeted by agitated villagers who prevented them from interfering with the ritual According to the Times of India, police had to first convince the village elders that the buried man would die of suffocation before the villagers finally allowed them to intervene.

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Kharol was barely conscious when police dug him out of the pit. He was taken to a nearby health center and he is now in stable condition. He later told officers that it was his own wish to perform ‘samadhi’ and that the villagers who helped him are not to blame. He claims that he wanted to attain salvation and was instructed to undergo the burial ritual by the “supreme power”.

A case has now been opened against both Kharol and the villagers who aided him, although the charges are not clear.