Balasore: In a humanitarian gesture, police personnel performed the last rites of a woman as her two sons fought over the funeral and left the body unattended at a village in Odisha’s Balasore district.
The deceased woman has been identified as Tulasi Das, a resident of Lokanathpur village under Basta police limits.
According to sources, Tulasi left behind three sons and her oldest has been missing for last few years. She was st
aying at the village with her youngest son, where she passed away on Tuesday.
After her demise, a dispute arose between her middle and youngest son over who will perform the rites at her funeral. The brothers fought and failed to arrive at a conclusion, leaving Tulasi’s body unattended till the evening.
After receiving information, officials from the Amarda Road police outpost reached the village and attempted to counsel Tulasi’s sons but to no avail. “We got a call and our officers went to resolve the dispute between the brothers. The bitterness between them was so intense that they were not willing to lay her to rest after much convincing. Finally, we performed her funeral at night,” a senior police official told media. This act of humanity has drawn widespread praise from netizens.
The younger son however blamed his elder brother for disrupting the funeral. “I went to the market and prepared for the funeral. But my elder brother instigated the villagers and they refused to allow me to perform my mother’s last rites,” Tulasi’s youngest son alleged.