Kanpur: Dead Man’s Body Kept at Home for 18 Months
The family of an Income Tax department employee who died last year kept his body at home for almost 18 months assuming that he was in a coma.
In a bizarre & extremely shocking incident, the family of a Income Tax department employee who died last year kept his body at home for almost 18 months assuming that he was in a coma. The man's mom, who appears to be mentally unstable, sprinkled 'gangajal' on his highly decomposed body every morning, hoping that it would help him come out of the coma. He was posted with the income tax department in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. His family lived in Rawatpur locality of Kanpur. His wife Mitali Dixit is a manager with a cooperative bank in Ghatampur in Kanpur. They have two children—a five-year-old son and an 18-month-old daughter. Vimlesh Sonkar returned home in March 2021 on medical leave from Ahmedabad after apparently contracting Covid-19. His father Ram Avtar said, “He was taken to a hospital in Rawatpur on 15th April, 2021. The doctor gave him an injection and thereafter he could not regain consciousness. Few days later, they declared him dead and issued a certificate,” In a statement, the Kanpur police said Sonkar's death certificate issued by a private hospital stated that he died due to sudden cardiac respiratory syndrome on 22nd April, 2021. Vimlesh Sonkar, who worked in the Income Tax department, died in April last year but his family was reluctant to perform his last rites because they believed he was in a coma,
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Alok Ranjan said, "I was informed by Kanpur's Income Tax officials, who requested that the matter be investigated as the family pension files hadn't moved an inch."
“When a team of health officials, along with policemen and the magistrate reached Sonkar's house on 23rd September 2022, his family members insisted that he was alive and in a coma. After much persuasion, the family members allowed the health team to take the body to Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital, where medical tests declared him dead.” Kanpur police have asked the district administration to form a panel of psychiatrists to speak to the family members, including his father Ram Avtar, mother Ram Dulari, wife Mitali and brothers Sunil Kumar and Dinesh Kumar.
It was necessary to understand why the family chose to keep the body at home even after the man was declared dead. Kanpur police commissioner BP Jogdand said, “Police have taken legal opinion and there’s nothing to construe that the family broke any law.” Mohammad Tahir, who runs a hardware shop just opposite the apartment, said everyone heard about the death. The entire market was closed and people were helping with the funeral arrangements, “I paid for wood for pyre and panditji, ” “Suddenly, we were told Vimlesh was breathing again but not opening his eyes. All of us thought a miracle had happened.” Ashish Tiwari, who lives nearby, recalled the parents saying the pulse oximeter was giving a reading and that they could feel him breathe. Police said the body was found in a highly decomposed state. Sonkar's family had also told their neighbours that he was in a coma. Neighbours told police that the family members were often seen taking oxygen cylinders home. “I massaged his body with oil. He was breathing, his forehead used to twitch,” the mother claimed, asserting, “My son was alive when he was forcibly taken away. We could do nothing.” 24 hours AC in the room; Changing clothes of ‘Deadbody’ daily, massaging and cleaning with Dettol Kanpur’s family lived with the dead body for one and a half years. Mithali says – ‘Tried to understand my mother-in-law. But they were not ready to believe that Vimalesh had died. I could not resist much because of this. For one and a half years, I had to obey my mother-in-law. After that, when the Income Tax Department asked Vimalesh, I gave them full information.’
