Baripada: In a shameful incident laying bare the insensitivity abound among humans, the body of an elderly woman was left to rot for three days after members of her community refused to participate in her cremation ‘demanding’ a mutton feast which was outstanding on the elder son of the deceased from the time of his marriage.
The shocking incident has been reported from Jaybila village situated on the foothills of Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary in Mayurbhanj district about 8 km from the district headquarters of Baripada. The deceased was identified as Sambhari Singh, 70, in the village where a majority of the dwellers are from the tribal Mundari community. According to reports, the woman died due to old-age-related ailments at 2 pm, Saturday.
However, neighbours and community members refused to participate in her cremation as her elder son had failed to arrange a feast with mutton in the menu at the time of his marriage. Community members refused to participate in her cremation alleging that her son had failed to give a mutton feast at the time of his marriage which is in “complete violation of the community guidelines”. As a result, the deceased’s sons failed to cremate the body and it was left to rot for three days inside the house. The development pushed two of her sons Daktar and Chandan into distress.
On being informed, media persons rushed to the village and talked with the villagers to sort out the issue. A meeting of the village committee was convened and presided over by the village head Sana Lakshman Singh. The committee asked the deceased elder son Daktar to give them 10 kg mutton (sheep meat) as penalty for not throwing feasts at the time of his marriages. Notably, Daktar, the elder son of the deceased has married twice and has children from both his wives, who are now living separately from him.
However, despite marrying twice, Daktar ‘violated’ community norms by not serving feasts with sheep meat or mutton in the menu to his community members. The villagers were repeatedly pulling him up for not adhering to tradition and community guidelines but he was not listening to them. Finally, Daktar agreed to the villagers’ proposal following which his mother’s body was cremated Monday afternoon. Moreover, the villagers further warned him of boycotting the post-death rituals of the deceased if he fails to serve them the feast.