VIJAYAWADA: Women entering burial grounds or crematoriums is considered a sin in many cultures. But Kanuri Seshu Madhavi, a social activist from Gannavaram near Vijayawada, became an inspiration for the locals when she broke numerous social barriers by performing the last rites of four unclaimed bodies.
Madhavi runs shelters for the elderly, Bala Koteswara Rao Vrudhashrama Seva Sangham Old Age Home, at Gannavaram and Veldipadu. Her children Suneetha and Ashok, both B Tech students, help their mother in every way possible. She has provided shelter to many orphaned women who were brought to her by police and other activists during the initial waves of Covid-19.
Vallabhaneni Prasad Rao, a retired engineer from Chinavutupalli (a nearby village), praised Madhavi and said her services that shattered the caste and creed walls, are exemplary. “Not everyone can do what she does. It is a rare thing to see a woman washing wounds of elderly deceased people before their last rites, even without getting any financial support.”
During the first Covid wave, an woman aged 60, who was given shelter at one of Madhavi’s old-age home, died from Covid during treatment. Due to the fear that shrouded the disease, she could not find any help to conduct the last rites of the woman. She herself shifted the body to a graveyard and performed the final rituals with the help of her employee Vutukuri Lakshmi and regional medical practitioner V Vinay.
“No one cooperated at the time. I was surprised when I saw Madhavi taking the body to the graveyard all by herself. I noticed her courage and wanted to help,” Vinay said.
In another similar instance, a resident of Gudivada area of Krishna district who was infected with Covid was brought to the shelter by the police after her treatment at the Vijayawada government hospital. The police brought and left her at the BKR old-age home. A few months later, she died of common fever. Madhavi informed the same to the police and performed the last rites of Mangamma as well. Speaking to The New Indian Express, Madhavi said despite her hardships in childhood and after marriage, she wanted to help the elderly and set up the old age home, hoping to do the same.