"Dead" man returns home after two years

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A man mistakenly certified as dead following a horrific motorcycle accident two years ago was reunited with his family last week after a social worker helped to identify him through thumbprints.

S Samy Pillai, 50, was believed to have been killed in a hit-and-run accident in June 2005, after his wrecked motorcycle was found along the same stretch of road as a body mangled beyond recognition, the Star newspaper said.

But he was found to be alive, although speechless and partly paralyzed by the accident, after a social worker encountered him hobbling around on crutches about 300 km from his home and took him to authorities, who identified him from his thumbprints.

Last Tuesday, Pillai's wife, K Letchumy, 42, confirmed the man was her husband, but how he spent his years away from home is a mystery. The couple have 9 children, the paper said.

"I am glad Samy Pillai has been reunited with his family who had all this while thought the unidentified body had been his," the paper quoted Andrew Raju, the social worker, as saying.

"They even conducted prayers according to Christian rites."