In a bizarre case, the body of a burn injury victim was mistakenly handed over to the relatives of a woman who died in a road mishap, at the government general hospital in Madurai.

According to officials, the body of 60-year-old Annalakshmi who died in an accident was handed over to her relatives after post-mortem last night.The body was covered with a white cloth.When relatives removed the cloth for performing the funeral rites, they were shocked to find the body was that of a young woman.

The relatives returned with the body and staged a protest at the hospital following which officials held talks with them.An inquiry revealed that the body of 30-year-old Karpagaselvi, who allegedly set herself ablaze and succumbed to burns, had been handed over to Annalakshmi's relatives, police said.Annalakshmi's body was later handed over and the funeral rites performed, police said.