Nabarangpur: In yet another instance of discrimination over caste, villagers of the Khatiguda area of Parjabarangpad panchayat in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district refused to carry the body of a woman to the cremation ground and give her a proper cremation as her daughter had married a boy from the lower caste.
According to reports, Lakshmi Patra, a widow belonging to the Paik caste, breathed her last while undergoing treatment in a local hospital on Thursday. After her body was brought to the village by an ambulance, no one cooperated to cremate her.
Lakshmi’s daughter Yamuna had married Pitambar Harijan, a boy from the lower caste, and had been living with her mother for the last year. But when her body reached the village, Yamuna also left the house fearing that the villagers would ostracize them if she touched her mother’s body. Even Lakshi’s relatives refused to help.
Lakshmi’s minor son remained beside his mother’s body and kept pleading with the villagers to help him cremate his mother’s body. However, none agreed to lend a shoulder to carry the body to the crematorium.
After 11 hours, former Zilla Parishad member Sada Zani and local social workers came forward for the minor’s help. They carried the body to the Indravati crematorium and cremated it according to the Hindu rituals.
