Sumitra Singh of Etawah District in India appeared to die and then revived, having apparently lost all awareness of her former personality but rather showing the knowledge, behaviours and personality traits of a quite different woman, Shiva Tripathi, who had lived in the same district but had died suddenly by being crushed by a railway train two months earlier. On visiting Shiva’s family, Sumitra made accurate recognitions of family members, relating to each person in the appropriate customary manner. The Tripathi family accepted Sumitra as Shiva in a different body, and she retained the new identity for the rest of her life. This highly unusual case was investigated by multiple researchers and has been interpreted variously as one of reincarnation, possession, or both.