Mangaluru (TNN): Fifty-year-old Shamshuddin went missing 35 days ago and never returned home. A few days later, the District Government Wenlock Hospital advertised in local newspapers about unclaimed bodies along with photographs.
The family of Shamshuddin swallowed the bitter news, brought the body home and buried it 10 days ago in Sullia taluk's Peruvaje, 75km from here. In attendance were about 500 family members and neighbours.
On Thursday, Shamshuddin walked home - alive, kicking and fit as a fiddle.
His family didn't believe Shammu, as he's fondly called, was standing in front of them in flesh and blood. The tragic images of the body being lowered into the earth flashed before them. The family took a long time to accept the reality.
As it turned out, the physical features of Shammu stunningly matched that of another person, identified as Shakeel, whose photograph was published in the newspapers. Shammu, a chronic alcoholic, would often go missing for days and weeks; this time, he was not found for about five weeks.
Shammu's younger brother Ismail told TOI: "Shammu has been doing the vanishing act for 25 years. His wife and children have given up on him. We saw the ad in newspapers about the unclaimed body and it was a dead ringer of my brother.
The deceased - Shakeel - was in Wenlock Hospital under treatment for 12 days and his body was in the morgue for about 20 days. The duration matched the period my brother went missing."
What reinforced their belief that the body was of Shammu was an anomaly in the left eye - uncannily, Shammu was blind in one eye and Shakeel had a problem. Talk of doppelgangers.
On Wednesday, Ismail received a message from his kin in Hasan district that Shammu was sighted in Javagal area of Arsikere taluk. "When I told the villagers that my brother is alive, they came to assault us. To confirm he's alive, I went to Javagal on Wednesday night and brought him home."
After establishing his identity, the family concluded Shammu is alive. They have informed the hospital about the costly mix-up. None has come forward to claim the body of Shakeel.
