Man - dead or alive?

One document you really wouldn't want to receive while you're alive is your own death certificate. But for one pensioner living in Russia's Chelyabinsk region that's exactly what's happened. He's now fighting to prove he still very much exists.

This is a story about how a negligent mistake by police can turn a person's life upside down.

At the end of May an unidentified body was found in the town. The investigation showed his name was Nikolay Puchkov.

The registry of Kyshtym town had only one person with such a name. According to relatives investigators didn't attempt to call the family to confirm his death.

Even though Puchkov's personal file gave his home address.

The officer of the criminal department did not conduct all the necessary measures to identify the dead man. She only took into consideration one test and according to the results of this examination she noted the corpse belonged to Puchkov Nikolay Ivanovich. And the head of the Department of Internal affairs of Kyshtym signed it.

The news of his death reached Nikolay when he was refused his pension. “Sorry but you're dead” – that's what he heard.

Now the excuses from the local police don't help.

Nikolay is still judicially dead. His resurrection can be stated only through a court hearing.