Uttar Pradesh: Woman declared dead 3 years back, fights to restore identity

New Delhi: In a shocking case reported from a village in Uttar Pradesh, a woman who was very much alive was reportedly declared dead on paper. The bureaucratic error which was made almost 3 years back, was finally corrected in November 2025. The woman lost out on several government benefits owing to this bizarre error. The woman had to run from pillar to post to get this error rectified.

According to a PTI report, the woman had applied for her husband's death certificate, after he passed away in 2022. But the officials instead issued the death certificate in her name, Saroja Devi. The error was recorded on January 1,2022. Immediately after that the woman's problems compounded. Her Aadhar was deactivated, so the basic services tied to identity verification became inaccessible to her, like her bank account, ration and such other services stopped.

Also Read

India"s GDP growth may cross 7.5% in Q2: SBI report

Rohini Acharya slams journalist for making sexist remarks over donating kidney to her father

Anmol Bishnoi"s extradition from US: Who is he and his links to Baba Siddiqui murder case

The woman, identified as Saroj Devi, faced a lot of hardships after the Aadhar deactivation. The resident of UP's Chamar Nagaria village in Khair tehsil, lost her husband in 2020. But when she sought closure and applied for a death certificate, she was pushed into "non-existence" at least on paper.

The woman narrated her ordeal at a Tehsil Diwas grievance forum on November 15. She pleaded her case in front of senior officials and asked them to restore her identity and also "her life", which had been "officially ended."

Devi told officials that she had been running from one government office to another to get the error rectified, but the laxity on the officials' part had led to no movement in her case.

Finally following her complaint at the Tehsil Diwas, the Khair Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shishir Kumar said that the case was taken up on priority. He assured that all necessary corrections are being made. The process is underway, he added.