Tikapur, Aug. 5: "Religious belief of bringing the dead back to life" has led to a dead body to rot. The mortal remains of a man of Tikapur-1 in Kailali district was left to start stinking after a pastor in the locality assured the family of the deceased that the deceased would resurrect with his prayers and rituals.

Moti Ram Dagaura died recently. Dagaura was suffering from heart problems and he breathed his last at home after being discharged from a hospital in Kohalpur. Following his death, he was taken to a pastor named Dipak Chaudhary in the area in the hope of bringing him back to life, said the deceased's son Ishwor. The body was kept in the house of the pastor for five days and the pastor started performing rituals with the belief of resurrecting the dead. "I had the belief that my father would come back to life after seven days after the rituals done by the pastor," he said.

However, the incident came to light after the local people reported it to the police after the body started stinking from the house of the pastor. Shortly, a team from the area police office, Tikapur reached the incident site.

The pastor admitted to have kept the body of Dagaura in his house in the hope of resurrecting him with the power of his prayers. "I had the hope that the dead would come back to life as a man of Tikapur municipality-4 was cured of wounds over his body with my prayers," he said.

He said on Tuesday morning, he went to the house of his neighbour after the body started stinking.

The body had  started rotting and it has been taken to Tikapur hospital for a post-mortem, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Madhu Sudan Neupane.