Walking back from the dead after eight years

A boy, whose body was set afloat in the river after being declared dead eight years ago
due to snake bite, has turned up alive at a hamlet in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district.

Lakhan Kalini of Chalakdihi village, then a 12-year-old school student, was declared dead by doctors in hospital after he was bitten by a poisonous snake at Gahmidanga village in West Bengal's Jhargram district where he was visiting his uncle, his mother Anita Kalinidi said on Friday.

His body was set afloat in a river at Gopiballabhpur as was customary in case of a snakebite victim, she said. 

"Lakhan turned up on Thursday and revealed that he had been living with a hermit all these years," Anita said.      

Asked if the hermit had rescued her son from the river, she said her son did not reveal any detail and went back with a promise of returning on Wednesday. Asked how she recognised her son, who has also become a hermit, after such a long gap, she said she could do so because of a tattoo on his arm and pierced ears.

Block Development Officer, Ghatsila, Omprakash Kumar, said villagers have confirmed the report of Lakhan turning up alive at his home.