A woman has reportedly been burned alive after doctors thought she was dead.
Hours after medics at Sharda hospital in Greater Noida, India, pronounced her as deceased, she was apparently placed in a funeral pyre.
Husband of 24-year-old Rachna Sisodia, Devesh Chaudhary, is said to have taken possession of her body in the early hours of the morning, before driving two hours to a location in Aligarh for the cremation.
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Shortly after Rachna was set alight, she was pulled out of the flames, as a witness reportedly believed she was still alive.
Credit: CEN
Although she appeared to show no signs of life, a post-mortem exam found charred particles in her windpipe and lungs, which wouldn't have been there had she not been breathing.
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Doctors then ruled that her cause of death was 'shock caused by being burnt alive'.
"This happens when someone is burnt alive. The particles go inside with their breath," a police spokesperson said. "If a person is dead, such particles cannot reach the lungs and the windpipe. So, the doctors concluded that the woman was burnt alive on the pyre."
Reports from the medical staff at the hospital differ to those who carried out the post-mortem exam.
Employees at the hospital maintain that Sisodia did actually die, whereas Pankaj Mishra, who examined the body after the cremation, said he couldn't even be sure it was her.
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Now, though, Devesh, the woman's husband, and 10 of his friends, have been accused of sexually assaulting her and then murdering her.
Police are currently studying DNA tests, according to reports.
Featured Image Credit: PA