Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented

by William Tebb; Edward Perry Vollum

At the General Hospital, Colombo, I was told by Dr. Van Lagenberg that there was absolutely no protection against premature burials for persons subject to trance, as, although according to the law medical certification was obligatory, medical examination was not; the doctor taking the word of the friends as to the fact of death, and certifying accordingly. Early burial (about six hours after death) was the rule. The Mother Superior to the staff of nurses mentioned the case of the venerable Father Vestarani, an aged Catholic priest of Colombo, who was subject to attacks of epilepsy: these were followed by apparent death, and he had several narrow escapes from premature burial. This case was also known to my friend, Mr. Peter de Abrew, of Colombo, and others. The house surgeon, Dr. H. M. Fernando, said that amongst the Moslems burial followed apparent death very quickly, sometimes in an hour.

From Mr. Vira Raghava Chri, of Madras, manager of the Hindu, I learned that the Brahmins always burn the dead soon after death occurs. The relatives, if they reside within easy reach, are sent for. The body is washed in cold water, and after two or three hours the religious service begins, which is performed by the priests, and consists of citations from the Vedas having reference to the departure of the soul from the body, and to the lessons the solemn event teaches. These ceremonies generally last for two or three hours, after which the body is taken to be burned. In answer to my inquiries as to what would happen if within that time no sign of decomposition was exhibited, Mr. Chri informed me that under no circumstances would they wait for more than six hours before the body was taken to be burned. He had heard of cases of persons declared to be dead coming to life while being carried to the funeral pyre, when they were restored to and welcomed by their friends. Cases were also known of the corpse sitting up amidst the flames, and being beaten down by those in charge of the funeral. They were believed to be the victims of premature cremation. He thought, however, that such cases were rare amongst his co-religionists.

Mr. Mohan Chunder Roy, M.B., of Benares, said that it was a very difficult matter, even for a medical practitioner, to distinguish the living from the dead,DIFFICULTY OF DIAGNOSIS. and, where there were no signs of putrefaction, it was his custom to advise the relatives to wait before burial, or before sending the body to the burning ghat, which they were very reluctant to do. When apparent revivals to consciousness occurred on the pyre, the superstitious people believed that it was due to the presence of evil spirits, and the attempt to escape is frustrated by cremators in charge of the burning ghat. This barbarous custom has been repeatedly affirmed to me by intelligent natives as a matter of common notoriety.

One reason why Hindus are hurried to the cremation ground so quickly, and without waiting to see whether the case is one of trance or suspended animation, is that the relatives are not allowed either to eat or drink while the body remains in the house. If a person touches any article in the house of mourning, that article must be washed and purified. After the cremation all the relatives purify themselves by bathing before they are allowed to eat or drink.

Mr. Durga Prasad, editor of the Harbinger, Lahore, writes, February 29, 1896:—“I recollect, when about twelve years old, my grandmother, who was held in great esteem for her piety and experience, told me that she was once declared to be dead, and was therefore carried to our crematorium, or burning-place; but when about to be burnt she came back to life.”

Mr. Joseph, assistant secretary at the Public Library and Museum, Colombo, told the author that his father, owing to weakness of the heart, was subject to frequent attacks of trance-like insensibility. They passed away by simple treatment in a few hours, but were sometimes quite alarming. He was afraid, owing to the superstitious fear of death among the ignorant classes in Ceylon, and the terror which keeping a corpse, or a person in a state of catalepsy, where volition had ceased, excited, that many were buried or burned alive, as it was the custom, particularly amongst the Mahomedans, to carry the body away a few hours after death. Signs of decomposition quickly appeared in a tropical climate, but this unequivocal mode of verifying death was not often waited for by Moslems.

SRI SUMANGALA ON SINHALESE BURIALS IN CEYLON.

Sri Sumangala, the venerable High Priest of the Buddhists of Ceylon, and Principal of the College for Buddhist Priests, at an interview the author had with him in January, 1895, stated that among the Sinhalese the chances of burial or cremation of the apparently dead are not frequent.BURIAL IN CEYLON. Their customs are such that a corpse is seldom or never removed for burial or cremation before the expiry of twenty-four hours after death is said to have taken place. During that time climatic influence renders signs of decomposition and putrefaction apparent.

Only one case came under the observation of the venerable theologian, which was that of a person bitten by a cobra. The man apparently succumbed, but a native specialist, having arrived at the cemetery just before the burial, examined the case, and said that life was not extinct, and saved the man from a premature grave.