BARGARH: In a shocking case of caste discrimination, the funeral of an elderly woman of Marhatikra village in Bargarh’s Attabira block was delayed for more than 20 hours after local residents allegedly refused to come forward to perform her last rites.
The 60-year-old woman, who had reportedly been ostracised for years over her inter-caste marriage, was eventually cremated with the assistance of volunteers from a local organisation.
According to sources, Shanti Bariha married a man from another caste around 20 years ago. Following the marriage, she was reportedly ostracised by her family and socially boycotted by villagers. Since then, she was living in isolation.
When Shanti’s husband Madan died around five years ago, no one from the village reportedly came forward to help with the funeral. Left with no alternative, she had paid two persons Rs 500 to dig a grave where she buried her husband herself.
A similar situation unfolded after Shanti’s death in the wee hours of Wednesday. Her body reportedly remained unattended for nearly 20 hours as no one came forward to shoulder the bier or conduct the final rites. Disturbed by the incident, Tarani Dalai of neighbouring Barahamunda village alerted the local police.
Subsequently, members of a local organisation ‘Sankalpa Pariwar’ reached the village and performed Shanti’s last rites late in the night on Wednesday with assistance from Attabira police.
Under the supervision of organisation secretary G Ramesh, volunteers Nilesh Pradhan, Chinmaya Pandey, Yogendra Pandey, Dinesh Mahattam, Rohan, Amar Singh and Sahil Bhoi performed the elderly woman’s final rites.
Ramesh said, “The couple had no children. After her husband’s death, Shanti was living alone in difficult circumstances. When we received information about her death and reached the village, we found ants crawling around her body. We considered it our responsibility to ensure that she received a proper funeral.”
