Man jumps onto funeral pyre, dies

VARANASI - A man, said to be mentally unstable, was charred to death Friday after he jumped onto a funeral pyre in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi district, police said.

The incident occurred near the Manikarnika ghat (bank) of the Ganges river in Varanasi, some 250 km from Lucknow.

“According to eyewitnesses, the man initially stood a few metres away from the fire and suddenly ran towards it and jumped onto it. Before those attending the funeral ceremony could react, the man died,” police inspector Prem Shankar Singh told reporters.

“Preliminary investigations reveal that the man, yet to be identified, was mentally unstable. For the last few days he was being seen moving nearing the banks of the river,” he added.