Bhubaneswar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought an action-taken report from the district collector on the two men eating half-burnt human flesh at a cremation ground at Bandhasahi village in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district in an inebriated state on July 12.
Hearing a petition filed by rights lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy, the rights panel sought a reply within four weeks.
The petitioner submitted that two accused – Sundar Mohan Singh, 58, and Narendra Singh, 25 – of Dantuni village ate the flesh of a dead woman, identified as Madhusmita Singh, and violated the rights of the deceased after death.
“Due to rain, the body could not be completely burned during cremation. They brought a small portion from the half-burnt body and ate it. Shocked over the incident, the villagers demanded stern action against the two for eating human flesh and violating the customs of the local community,” he said.
It was alleged that though the family of the deceased was entitled to assistance under the Harischandra Sahayata Yojana, they were not provided the same. So, they left the body half-charred. The duo allegedly ate its flesh as a matter of practice of witchcraft.
However, police did not evoke provisions of the Odisha Prevention of Witch-hunting Act, 2013, in the FIR, Tripathy said and added that practice of sorcery and witchcraft continues unabated in tribal areas despite the Odisha Prevention of Witch-hunting Act 2013.
The two have been charged under Section 297 (trespassing on burial places) of the Indian Penal Code.
The petitioner requested for a detailed investigation from all possible angles into the case, legal action and compensation with benefits of social welfare schemes to the bereaved family.
