Odisha: Woman Murdered After Rape Denied Honourable Cremation

Bhubaneswar: As the people across the country continue to protest the alleged rape and murder of junior doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, — an young Odisha woman who met the similar fate did not have the privilege of getting similar response from her own villagers.

The villagers did not allow the victim’s body to be cremated in their village, taking a plea that her ‘ghost’ will “haunt” and “terrorise” their children.

Reports from Sahebi Gaon under Rairakhol Police Station in Sambalpur district said the 27-year-old unmarried woman had gone to a local canal to take bath. However, she did not return home and went missing from the bathing ghat.

The family members lodged a complaint in the local police station.

On September 1, the villagers spotted the body of the woman floating in the canal.

The police recovered the body from the canal and sent it for post-mortem at VSS Medical College and Hospital at Burla.

When the police officials tried to hand over the body of the woman to her family members after post-mortem, the villagers protested and said they won’t allow cremation of the body in the village.

The body was kept in the morgue of the local hospital for 24 hours after which it was cremated on Tuesday at the Rairakhol NAC crematorium, 50 km from the victim's village.

Rairakhol sub-collector Rabi Ranjan Mahant and senior police officials said though they tried to convince the villagers to allow cremation of the body in their village, they refused to comply.

Sripati Pradhan, the village head, said the residents of Sahebi Gaon did not agree for cremation of the young lady’s body in the locality as they apprehended that her ghost will move around in the vicinity and trouble the children and woman.

Ramakant Bhoi, a local social worker, said the superstition-ridden villagers did not give honour to the soul of the dead to be cremated in her own village.