Throughout history, there have been thousands of stories of people coming back from the dead. We've heard of vampires and zombies, religious figures and individuals who have been resurrected, and - on very rare occasions - true stories of people who really have died, but were resuscitated before it was too late.

But, for one man in Romania, coming back from the grave has been far from a happy story.

Constantin Reliu, a 63-year-old man, was declared dead without his knowledge. Now, as part of a legal battle, he's tried to get his status as a living person reinstated. Unfortunately, so far, he's had no luck, and has been told by courts that he has to remain dead... even though he clearly isn't.

Reliu's journey to the afterworld began in 1992, when he went to Turkey in order to find work. While he was there, the man severed all contact with his family for some reason. He did return to Romania in 1999, at which point he got in touch with his wife, but, after leaving for Turkey again, he made no effort to stay in contact with her or anyone else he'd left behind in his home country.

So, when Turkey was hit by an earthquake a little while later, Reliu's wife - again hearing nothing from him - assumed that he was dead.

This became a problem for the woman when she decided she wanted to remarry, as, legally, she was still with Reliu. As there was no way of divorcing him and no apparent telephone number or address that she could reach him at, Reliu's wife thought the best thing to do was to have him declared dead. So she did.

For more than a decade, Reliu walked around as a member of the living dead without even knowing it. Then, earlier this year, he was apprehended by Turkish authorities and sent back to Romania because he had failed to renew his documents in the time he'd been staying there.

To his surprise, when he arrived back in the country of his birth, he was promptly told that it would be impossible to renew his passport and return to Turkey, as he'd died back in 2003.

Having no other option, then, the 63-year-old took the case to court in the town of Barlad, and explained to a judge that he had been declared deceased in error. But, in a strange turn of events, the court backed up the death certificate, explaining that Reliu was too late in his appeal.

Speaking to the Romania Insider, Reliu explained: "The papers say I am dead, even though I am alive. I have no source of income since my papers show I am dead, I cannot get a job, I cannot do anything in the country."

The senior citizen claims that he still wants to return to Turkey, as he's set up a small company there, so he's going to continue to fight in court to have his death certificate revoked. Until then, however, he'll be pretty much treated like a ghost by authorities.

Throughout history, there have been thousands of stories of people coming back from the dead. We've heard of vampires and zombies, religious figures and individuals who have been resurrected, and - on very rare occasions - true stories of people who really have died, but were resuscitated before it was too late.

But, for one man in Romania, coming back from the grave has been far from a happy story.

Constantin Reliu, a 63-year-old man, was declared dead without his knowledge. Now, as part of a legal battle, he's tried to get his status as a living person reinstated. Unfortunately, so far, he's had no luck, and has been told by courts that he has to remain dead... even though he clearly isn't.

Reliu's journey to the afterworld began in 1992, when he went to Turkey in order to find work. While he was there, the man severed all contact with his family for some reason. He did return to Romania in 1999, at which point he got in touch with his wife, but, after leaving for Turkey again, he made no effort to stay in contact with her or anyone else he'd left behind in his home country.

So, when Turkey was hit by an earthquake a little while later, Reliu's wife - again hearing nothing from him - assumed that he was dead.

This became a problem for the woman when she decided she wanted to remarry, as, legally, she was still with Reliu. As there was no way of divorcing him and no apparent telephone number or address that she could reach him at, Reliu's wife thought the best thing to do was to have him declared dead. So she did.

For more than a decade, Reliu walked around as a member of the living dead without even knowing it. Then, earlier this year, he was apprehended by Turkish authorities and sent back to Romania because he had failed to renew his documents in the time he'd been staying there.

To his surprise, when he arrived back in the country of his birth, he was promptly told that it would be impossible to renew his passport and return to Turkey, as he'd died back in 2003.

Having no other option, then, the 63-year-old took the case to court in the town of Barlad, and explained to a judge that he had been declared deceased in error. But, in a strange turn of events, the court backed up the death certificate, explaining that Reliu was too late in his appeal.

Speaking to the Romania Insider, Reliu explained: "The papers say I am dead, even though I am alive. I have no source of income since my papers show I am dead, I cannot get a job, I cannot do anything in the country."

The senior citizen claims that he still wants to return to Turkey, as he's set up a small company there, so he's going to continue to fight in court to have his death certificate revoked. Until then, however, he'll be pretty much treated like a ghost by authorities.