TENKASI: Members of the Scheduled Caste community in Lakshmipuram village near Achamkuttam have demanded a crematorium stating that they were forced to cremate the body of the deceased persons in the open. A video clip, in which residents of the village were carrying the body of an 88-year-old woman in water upto the hip level, went viral on social media on Thursday.
C Balu, son of the woman, C Madathi, told TNIE they are finding it difficult to cremate the bodies particularly during rainy days due to the lack of a crematorium. "Around 20 families of our community are residing in the village. We usually cremate bodies of the deceased family members on the bank of a village pond in the open.
When my mother Madathi died on Wednesday, we needed to carry her body through a stream in hip-deep water. During rain, we cremate the body by setting a temporary hut over it using tarpaulin to avoid fire dousing in the rain. We demand the state government to set up a crematorium near the pond and construct a pathway to it on the banks of the stream," he said, adding that people belonging to the intermediate caste in their village are using another crematorium, which is located far away from their residential unit.