Man cremates 'wife' only to find her alive 372 miles away

Police have launched an investigation after a man allegedly identified and cremated the dead body of his ‘wife’, only for her to turn up alive days later.

A bizarre case of mistaken identity seems to have taken place in India after Ram Sumer, 60, informed officials that his spouse Phoolmati had gone AWOL.

The man claimed that she had left her paternal home on 15 June but failed to make it back to their property - thus prompting him to open a missing persons case.

Four days after the initial complaint was reportedly lodged, a woman’s body was found in the Uruva Bazaar area of Bansgaon in Gorakhpur.

According to police reports, Sumer was invited to identify the corpse and he confirmed at the time that the remains were those of his late wife.

Following the identification process, the locals completed the last rites, which included cremation, as reported by the Deccan Herald.

It's claimed the mystery woman's body was cremated. (Getty/Peter Dazeley)

However, a post-mortem exam revealed that the cremated woman had been strangled to death, prompting police to probe further.

Thinking the deceased was still Phoolmati, it’s claimed that officers traced her mobile phone in an attempt to catch her killer.

However, they were surprised to find that the supposedly deceased woman’s phone was active in Jhansi - around 11 hours and 372 miles away.

It’s said that Phoolmati had been regularly communicating with a number belonging to one Shubham from Sultanpur.

The man later confirmed that Phoolmati was alive and that he’d elected to bring her to Jhansi with him.

Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Tomar confirmed to the publication that Phoolmati and her husband had been reunited on Saturday ( 22 June) and that her statement was recorded.

The officer also said a probe to determine the connection between Sumer, Phoolmati, Shubham, and the dead woman who was cremated was also underway.

Following the news, Redditors have taken to social media to have their say on the situation.

One user wrote: “Whom did he cremate then?”

A second echoed: “But who was the actual women ‘The UP Man’ cremated?”

“Everything is planned,” commented another.

Officals have said they are probing further into the investigation. (Getty/RapidEye

Interestingly, this isn’t the only mind-boggling cremation story to come out of India this year.

In February, reports claimed an Indian woman who had sustained ‘severe injuries’ after being caught in a house fire ‘came back to life’ before her husband had her cremated.

Bujji Aamma, 52, had sustained burns to half of her body and was taken to MKCG Medical College and Hospital to receive treatment.

Unfortunately, her family claimed her health had ‘become worse’ after she was discharged and they ‘found her dead’ a couple of days later.

Following her perceived ‘death’, the woman’s husband, Sibaram Palo, arranged for her to be taken to the crematorium in a hearse.

"We thought she was dead and informed others in the locality to arrange a hearse van to carry the body to the cremation ground," he told the Times of India.

However, a local who accompanied Aamma in the hearse noticed she’d opened her eyes up.

"Initially we were scared as we had never seen such an incident, though we had heard some stories,” he explained.

Following the strange incident, Aamma was delivered back to her home by the hearse.