Caste stigma: Elderly woman meets fate of deceased husband in Subarnapur; last rites performed by social workers

Shunned by her relatives for inter-caste marriage, an elderly woman of Chingiranali village under Biramaharajpur block in Subarnapur district had to pay a hefty price even after her death as no one from her family turned up to have a look for the last time, let alone performing her last rites.

According to sources, one Sumitra Pradhan (85) died due to old age ailments. However, her body lay unattended for over 12 hours as none of her relatives turned up to perform her last rites. 

Later, a group of social activists turned good Samaritans and conducted the funeral to give some dignity to the departed soul, 

sources informed, adding that, Sumitra’s husband had also gone through the caste stigma earlier this year.

It is worthwhile to mention here that, one Beda Pradhan had married to Sumitra several years ago. 

Earlier on 25 March this year, Beda died. However, he had to bear the brunt of the inter-caste marriage as no one came forward to perform his last rites.

As no one turned up for the last rites of Beda, some social workers had performed his last rites around 10 hours after his death.