Rourkela: Relatives of a woman, who had left her husband and children to live with another man, allegedly refused to perform her last rights because her partner apparently belonged to a lower caste.
Her body lay at Sundargarh crematorium for hours before some volunteers came forward to help the woman’s son and daughter perform her last rites, late on Wednesday.
In 2018, Sabita Naik (44) left her husband, son and daughter in Shankara town to live with another man. Thereafter, Sabita’s first husband also left his children and went missing. Sabita’s children grew up in their grandfather’s home.
Some days back, Sabita was beaten up by her partner. A critically injured Sabita was admitted to Sundargarh district headquarters hospital, while her partner fled. As her condition worsened, she was shifted to Vimsar, Burla, on Jan 18.
Learning about her mother’s condition, her daughter (21) and son (19), who work in Chennai and Sundargarh, respectively, reached Vimsar on Wednesday, but she had passed away by then.
The children brought her body to their house in Shankara, but none of the relatives came forward to cremate her. Later they took the body to the crematorium, where it lay for hours before four volunteers helped perform the last rites. “None of her relatives came forward to cremate her body,” said Siddhant Kumar Panda, one of the volunteers.