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Balasore: An elderly woman was forced to bury the mortal remains of her son near a forest at Podasul village under Siadimala panchayat in the district on Friday after the villagers didn't allow her to enter the village crematorium.
Reports said Kamalini Rana's 30-year-old son Jagannatha died of high fever yesterday. With the help of her neighbors, Kamalini took Jagannatha's body to be buried in the village crematorium. However, the villagers asked her to burn the body instead of burying it.
As Kamalini did not have money or any male family members to help her conduct the last rites of her son, she had to carry the body for three kilometers to bury it in the forest.
"My son died of pneumonia. After the villagers didn't allow me to bury the dead body in the village crematorium, I buried it near the forest," said Kamalini.
"We initially took the dead body to the village crematorium. However, some villagers opposed the burying and asked us to burn it instead. Though we tried to raise our voice, we had to stay silent due to pressure from the villagers," alleged Kamalini's neighbour.
Kamalini should have got financial assistance under the Harishchandra Sahayata (assistance to poor and destitute for last rites) scheme for the cremation, said a villager.
Nilgiri sub-collector, Harishchandra Jena informed that an investigation in connection with the incident will be launched.
Harishchandra Sahayata is the State government's flagship programme. As per the scheme, the ward member who works at the grassroots level should appraise the village sarpanch about such matter, said Jena.
"The government has directed the sarpanches for immediate sanction of funds to people in need under the Harishchandra scheme. However, there is a lack of awareness among people," added the Sub Collector.
