In a bizarre incident in Keonjhar, villagers refused to join bier of a dead cancer patient fearing that the disease might spread to them and asked the kin of the deceased to perform special rituals to redeem their sin and get back to the community.
Pradeep Kumar Behera, a resident of Barodapal village in Keonjhar Sadar block, had to carry the body of his father on his own after villagers refused to help him.
Pradeep with the help of his brother tied the body to a bamboo stick and carried it to the funeral ground to perform the last rites. None of the villagers including near relatives even joined the funeral. Dushashan Behera (58), father of Pradeep, was suffering from cancer and was under treatment in Cuttack since last few months.
After he died on Thursday, his son brought his body to their village for the last rites. But since he was a cancer patient and some alleged that already there were maggots in the mouth, all refused to even touch the body.
Fearing that the decease would spread, Pradeep was advised to take away the body soon and he had to perform special rituals to get back to his caste and community.