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NIMHANS doctor attempts to prove life after death

Dr Satwant Pasricha of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences has been researching the possibility of rebirth for nearly two-and-a-half decades. She says her studies indicate that previous birth behavioural patterns were strongly indicated in the next life, irrespective of caste, religion, social status or sex change.

Although there is no conclusive evidence to prove reincarnation, Dr Pasricha says: "Sixty-eight per cent of 500-odd people with rebirth symptoms remembered their past."

During her research, she meticulously followed procedures and eliminated false claims by visiting families to ascertain facts. She rechecked her facts with independent sources.

Pasricha said some people carried scars from injuries sustained in their previous lifetime. To prove her point, she showed the slide of a girl who claimed to have died as a boy in a road accident during her previous birth. The girl had a nine-inch mark on her leg. Interestingly, the boy's autopsy report confirmed the presence of a similar nine inch wound on the leg.

Another case was that of a boy who was run over by a train. After a few years, a girl in a distant place exhibited a similar behavioural patterns. She acted like a boy and was attracted towards Islam, despite being born into a different religion.

Pasricha indicated that even twins showed rebirth symptoms. She had a record of 42 such cases. While a few of them were related, many were not. She cited the example of a Sri Lankan pair -- one of whom was an insurgent and the other, a normal boy. Rebirth cases exhibited evident behavioural patterns.

Pasricha, who has over 40 papers and a book to her credit, said children generally showed signs of previous birth between the 30th and 60th months. However, they started adapting to the existing situation after eight to 10 years.

In most cases, experiences of the past often got suppressed or the children were well adapted to the new situation. It was noticed that these children felt their present environment was similar to that in their previous life. Such children were also known to suffer from phobias.

Sometimes, the age gap between death and rebirth was exactly nine months, while in others it was years. Explaining another theory, she said there was a vehicle which carried life.

On whether the blood group of the dead and the reborn matched, Pasricha said it was very difficult to get the blood group of the dead. She cited an example of a person with a deformed body. The autopsy report of his previous birth showed that the man was beaten to death. As some parts of his body had been badly damaged, it had resulted in deformity in his present birth.

The doctor added that all symptoms of injuries were not carried into the person's next life. However, she admitted that she had not studied such cases.

Similar studies were also being conducted in Burma, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Thailand. Pasricha wanted the government and philanthropists to assist in this important project undertaken by NIMHANS in India and the University of Virginia in the United States.

UNI

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