In an exemplary call for breaking of obsolete traditions, two daughters belonging to Baipalli village in Bargarh district carried the body of their 70-year-old mother to the funeral ground for performing last rites.
They were forced to do so after a futile wait of nine hours as no man in the village came forward to carry the dead woman. The incident took place in Sohela block on Monday.
Dei Pradhan’s husband had left the village 15 years ago being affected with leprosy. After he passed away, Dei lived with her two daughters, Chandrakanti (35) and Rosy (30). After Chandrakanti was married, Rosy and her mother lived together.
Dei died at 9 in the morning on Monday. The body kept lying on the veranda till 5 pm as no one came forward to carry it to the village funeral ground.
As per Hindu tradition, a dead body needs to be carried for last rites by four males. Women are not allowed to carry the body, nor give fire to the pyre.
Ultimately, with the support of some social workers, both the sisters along with the elder sister’s husband carried the body.