Punjab Family Cremates Missing Son, Then Learns He Is Alive in Jail
A Kapurthala family cremated a body they believed was their missing son, Ravi Kumar. Fifteen days later, jail authorities called to say he was alive and in custody.
A family in Punjab's Kapurthala district endured an emotional ordeal after cremating a body they believed was their missing son, only to receive a phone call 15 days later informing them he was alive and lodged in prison.
Ravi Kumar had left home on August 5 and did not return. His father and brother conducted their own search but found no trace of him. On August 11, the family filed a missing person report at the Kapurthala City Police Station.
During the investigation, police showed the family photographs of a burnt body of a young man that had been found. Family members and others identified the body as Kumar's. Believing he had died, the family performed his cremation on August 13.
The situation took an unexpected turn on September 2 when an employee of the Central Jail in Kapurthala called the family. They were told that a man named Ravi Kumar was an inmate there. Kumar had been arrested by Jalandhar Police about a month earlier in a loitering-related case and was being held in the jail.
The news left the family shocked and confused. The following day, they visited the jail and were overjoyed to confirm that Ravi Kumar was indeed alive.