Relatives of the deceased said that the body of Lalmati, which had been brought by the river, was reburied due to a lack of mourners.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
In Patan Municipality–5 here, a Dalit community faced difficulties managing the body of a woman from their own community due to the lack of funeral attendants. On Saturday, her body was found abandoned in Syadikholaa of the same ward.
When the police identified the body, it was found to be that of 62-year-old Lalmati Koli of Simpani, Baitadi, who had been given a symbolic cremation and buried on the riverbank just a few days earlier, according to District Police Office Baitadi spokesperson, Police Inspector Suraj Singh.
Lalmati Koli had died at home on the 5th of Saun. As there were no funeral attendants in their community for the final rites, they were unable to cremate the body and instead performed a symbolic cremation and buried her on the riverbank, said the deceased's nephew Naresh Koli.
According to Koli, there are only eight households of the Koli community in the village. Naresh said that most of the youths from these households are in India for work, so there were no people to attend the funeral or carry the body.
“Only nine of us, including children, reached the cremation site,” he said. “As there weren’t enough people to gather firewood and build a pyre, we performed a symbolic cremation and buried the body, but even that body was washed away by the river.”
He said that people from other communities did not attend the funeral because it is not customary for them to touch the bodies of people from their community. “In our village, not only the Chhetri community but also Dalit communities like Lohar, Od, and Damai have a significant presence,” Naresh said, “but we do not attend each other’s funerals.”
Ward Chairperson Phani Bohara, who was outside the district for treatment, said he was unaware of the death and would have provided all necessary support, including firewood, had he known. He also said that awareness programs would now be conducted to eliminate such harmful practices in the community.
The deceased’s relatives said that Lalmati’s body, which was washed away by the river, was reburied due to the lack of funeral attendants. The practice of people from one caste not touching the bodies of those from another caste during death is not only prevalent in Patan but also in other villages of the district.
Last year, Prakash Tailor (Damai) of Sigash Rural Municipality-1, Baitadi, had to wait at home with his 61-year-old mother’s body for two days until relatives arrived from afar, as there were no funeral attendants.
