A Mysterious Reincarnation Case from India: When Sumitra Died and Returned as Shiva

Life, death, the afterlife, the soul, no one truly knows. What is certain, however, is that nothing is ever entirely black and white. There is always a speck of grey in such matters, and reincarnation

of the soul is definitely one of them.This is the story of Sumitra Singh, a young woman from a village in North India. According to reports, Sumitra died and then revived soon after. Upon reviving, however, Sumitra stated that she was Shiva, a woman who had been murdered in a village some 100 kilometres away. Sumitra’s account and the details she shared corresponded closely with the facts surrounding Shiva, a young woman who had died a violent death.She had either been murdered or had died by suicide just two months before Sumitra herself had died.The year was 1985, and Sumitra was 17 years old. She lived in the village of Sharifpura in Uttar Pradesh. She had a child with her husband and lived in a joint family. According to a journal published by the University of Virginia School of Medicine, titled A Case of the Possession Type in India With Evidence of Paranormal Knowledge, “Early in 1985, she began to develop episodes of loss of consciousness with eye-rolling movements and clenching of the teeth. Sometimes she would speak during these trance-like states, and one day in July she predicted that she would die three days later. When the predicted day, July 19, came, she seemed to die.”The report states that she was considered dead because she was “pulseless and apnoeic, and her face was drained of blood like that of a dead person.”However, while preparations were being made for her funeral, Sumitra revived. She was confused at first and then suddenly spoke words that shocked everyone around her. She claimed to be Shiva, who had been murdered by her in-laws. She refused to accept Sumitra’s husband and child and claimed to be from a village called Dibiyapur. She said she wanted to reach Shiva’s children.She began giving details that matched the life of a young woman named Shiva Dwivedi, who had died on May 18 or 19, 1985. Although the exact cause of her death was unclear, Shiva’s parents believed she had been murdered by her in-laws and that it had been made to look like suicide. Her father, Ram Siya Tripathi, had filed a complaint, and reports of the legal proceedings had appeared in newspapers in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, where Shiva’s parents lived.As Sumitra lived in a village, many believed that she had either been possessed by spirits or had lost her mind. It was only after a month that Shiva’s father heard of her statements. “This occurred almost accidentally, when he heard a rumour, while visiting Dibiyapur, that his deceased daughter had taken possession of a girl in a distant village. Nearly two more months elapsed before he was able to verify this information by having someone from a village called Murra, close to Sharifpura, visit Sumitra and her family,” the report states.When Ram Siya Tripathi finally visited Sumitra, she immediately recognised him and called him her father. When taken to Etawah, she also recognised other family members.Interestingly, Sumitra, who had not been educated, began behaving like an educated woman. Shiva’s father was a lecturer, and Shiva herself had earned a BA degree.Whether Sumitra was remembering a past life or living someone else’s unfinished story, the truth remains as elusive as the soul itself.