Keonjhar: Jeetu Munda, who recently hit the headlines for carrying his sister’s skeleton to a rural bank to prove her death and withdraw money, Wednesday underwent a purification ritual as per tribal tradition and offered a feast to the community people.
The Munda tribe buries their dead, and exhuming the remains is considered sacrilege. Purification rituals are required if the body is dug out for any reason.
The 50-year-old tribal man had April 27 exhumed the skeletal remains of his sister, Kalra Munda (56), who died in January. He then walked around three kilometres to the Maliposi branch of the Odisha Grameen Bank and produced it before the official as proof of her death.
He got the money, Rs 19,402, from his dead sister’s account, after a video of Munda carrying the skeleton had gone viral, and the state government ordered an investigation.
As he removed the skeleton from the grave, the community elders asked him to undergo purification rituals or face social boycott, Munda said.
My family members and I today become pure after undergoing certain rituals as suggested by community heads. Digging out the remains of a dead person is considered an act of sacrilege in our community, Munda said.
Odisha’s Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia, who also hails from the tribal community, attended the purification ritual at Dianali village under Patana block of Keonjhar district.
The minister offered clothes and some other materials required for the rituals.
According to the provisions of the ritual, Munda tonsured his head and joined a puja conducted by a community priest. He hosted a feast for around 25 families in the village and other invitees.
The guests were served with chicken and ‘handia’, tribal rice beer.
The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), the sponsor of the rural bank, had said the skeleton episode appears to have arisen due to a lack of awareness of the claim settlement process, and the individual’s unwillingness to accept the procedures explained by the branch manager.
Though Munda said he was not ashamed of the entire episode, he does not want any action against the bank officials who allegedly harassed him.