‘He Is In coma’: Family Keeps Man’s Dead Body At Home For 18 Months In Kanpur

Kanpur: A family of an Income Tax department employee who died in 2021 kept his body at home in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur for almost 18 months assuming that he was in a coma. Strangely, the man’s wife, 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.

Vimlesh Dixit, 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 told PTI.

In a statement, the Kanpur police said Dixit’s death certificate issued by a private hospital stated that he died due to sudden cardiac respiratory syndrome on April 22, 2021.

The matter came to light on Friday when a team from the state health department reached their house. The I-T department informed them that Vimlesh, had not been attending office for the past one and half years, and asked them to ascertain his whereabouts. A team was then formed by the chief medical officer to look into the matter.

When the team of health officials along with policemen and the magistrate reached Dixit’s house in the Rawatpur area on Friday, 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.

The CMO said a three-member team has been constituted to look into the matter thoroughly and asked to submit its findings at the earliest.

Dixit’s family had also told their neighbours that he was in a coma. His wife appears to be mentally unstable, an official said on condition of anonymity. Neighbours told police that the family members were often seen taking oxygen cylinders home.

According to the police, the body was found in a highly decomposed state.

(With PTI inputs)