Being driven by blind belief and a Bengali folklore, the bereaved family members bid adieu to their deceased eight-year-old girl, who died on Thursday in a viper bite.
They let the body float at Madali mouth on the Bay of Bengal in a well-decorated banana raft, hoping the deceased would come alive with the blessings of Maa Manasa Devi, the snake goddess.
According to sources, deceased Priyanka Das was daughter of Sridam Das and Anupama Das of ward No. 7 of Kharanashi panchayat under Mahakalapada block.
She was bitten by a viper on Wednesday while sleeping and died on way to hospital on Thursday wee hours. The locals later asked the bereaved family members to float the body in a well-decorated banana raft by keeping unflinching faith on Maa Manasa Devi, the snake goddess, who could resurrect her to life again.
Being driven by a Bengali folklore that Maa Manasa Devi will bless a dead person of snake bite and make him/her alive for whom such a rite is performed, the family members of deceased Priya took the body clad in new cloths and kept it inside a mosquito net that was hanged on a well decorated raft. They kept food and some fresh cloth in the raft. They also kept her Aadhaar card and telephone number there. Later, the family members floated the raft on Madali mouth of the sea.