3 years after burial, naturally mummified body emerges from grave, cremated later

HUBBALLI:In a rare incident, a body was found in a non-decomposed state three years after its burial in Dastikoppa village of Kalghatagi taluk. The naturally mummified human corpse got accidentally exhumed early this week and the villagers were shocked to find the body of Shivalingappa Koppad almost intact. The family members, however, refused to hand over the body to any medical institute for research and cremated it. The incident has become the talk of the town.

Koppad’s body was found when a pit was being dug in the graveyard following the death of Ningamma Huggi, also a resident of Dastikoppa village.“When the villagers were digging the pit, they found Koppad’s mummified body. After the mud was cleared, it appeared as if the deceased was buried recently itself. Many people from nearby village rushed to Dastikoppa to witness the rare incident,” said a villager from Dastikoppa.Several theories are doing the rounds in the wake of the body remaining non-decomposed even after three years of burial.

Dr Gajanan Nayak, Head of the Department of Forensic Science at KIMS, told Express that the incident is called natural mummification. “Body decomposition starts immediately after death. The speed of the decomposition varies depending on many factors. If a body is exposed to air, it decomposes fast. If it is buried, the process intensifies. However, in this case, the body was not buried very deep. A mix of dry or cold conditions causes such kinds of mummification. There could have been a water flowing area and that might have resulted in mummification of the body. It is a rare case,” he said, adding “We had asked the family members to donate the body to our institute but the request was turned down.”“In such cases of natural mummification, the organs remain in the same state as they are at the time of death. Such bodies are worthy of medical research,” he added.