Balasubramania Kumar, a 74-year-old resident of Kandhampatti in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, who was presumed dead by his relatives was put in a freezer box overnight.. However, the 74-year-old man was rescued by the police on Tuesday night after the company, which provides the freezer boxes realised Balasubramania was breathing and alerted the officials. The bizarre incident took place on the evening of October 12 when Balasubramania’s brother Saravanan ‘presumed’ he was dead and called for a freezer box to place his brother’s body.
It was the next evening, on October 13, when the staff of the freezer company came to collect the box that they found out, to their shock, that the man inside was very much alive. Balasubramania was rescued by the men and his neighbours, who then rushed him to the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital in Salem, where he is currently undergoing treatment.
A video report by a Tamil news channel shows Balasubramania’s body convulsing inside the freezer box. In the video, Saravanan can be heard making shocking statements. He is heard saying that his brother was dead, even when the man behind the camera tells him that Balasubramania’s hand is shaking inside the box. “His hands are trembling, how?” the person behind the camera asks. “Oh, it’s fits (seizures),” Saravanan casually says. “How can that be possible if he’s dead?” the person asks, to which Saravanan fumbles and responds, “His soul has not left him yet.”
Sooramangalam police, who arrived at Balasubramania Kumar’s house, questioned the relatives. Speaking to TNM, Sooramangalam sub-Inspector Rajasekaran said, “The relatives had asked for the freezer box saying Balasubramania Kumar had died. It was only the next evening, when the freezer company people came to collect it around 7 to 8 pm, they found out that the man inside was still alive. We are trying to establish what happened. He surely could not have been kept in the freezer box for all that time the box was in the house.”
The police have registered a case under section 287 (negligent conduct to endanger human life) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Balasubramania’s family members.
Watch Balasubramania's brother speaking to the reporters: