A retired Indian Air Force veteran is going viral after faking his own death just to see who would show up to his funeral.
74-year-old Mohan Lal has made headlines for the dramatic way he ‘rose from the dead’ in a shocking stunt to see how many people would mourn him.
On October 13, Lal’s friends and family, along with other residents of his town in Konchi village, Gaya district, gathered together for a funeral procession in his honor.
His body was enveloped in a white shroud and placed on a bamboo stretcher decorated with flowers, which was carried by pallbearers up to a temple where his last rites would be performed and his body cremated.
Amid chants from the mourning attendees and emotional music playing in the background, Lal suddenly stood up from the stretcher, clearly alive and well.
The incident shocked the entire country and is now spreading around the world — not for his ‘return from the dead,’ but for the reason why he was never deceased in the first place.
Retired veteran holds fake funeral to see who’d mourn him
After his stunt, Lal explained that he wanted to see how many people would mourn him if he actually died.
“After death, people carry the bier, but I wanted to witness it myself and know how much respect and affection people give me,” he said.
To complete the ceremony, attendees burned an effigy in his place at the temple and later shared in a feast.
Despite the dramatic incident, Lal is well-loved by his local community, having used his own funds to make life better for those around him. For example, the veteran recently funded a “well-equipped crematorium” in his village after seeing mourners struggle with cremating their loved ones during the seasonal rains.
“After retirement, I have been engaged in social work, and working for the welfare of people till my last breath,” Lal said.
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