An 80-year-old woman’s cremation in Balasore district was delayed for nearly ten hours due to a bitter dispute among her sons over land and family issues.
Tulasi Das, wife of late Bansidhar Das of Lokanathpur village under Basta police station, died at 10:25 am on Tuesday. Her youngest son, Rakesh Das, wanted to perform the last rites at the riverbank, but his brothers insisted on conducting the rituals at their house. The disagreement escalated, leaving the body unattended.
Villagers refused to help Rakesh carry the body, and the deceased remained at home until 8 pm. The situation forced police intervention. Basta police, led by SI Bijay Kumar Barik and his team, reached the spot and tried to mediate. When no resolution emerged, the officers themselves carried the body for two kilometres to the Subarnarekha riverbank at Odia Pada.
Local journalists Dinabandhu Pradhan, Ajit Kumar Sahu, and Rabinarayan Satapathy assisted the police in completing the cremation. Officers, including ASI Lakshmidhar Bindhani, Havildar Bishnu Prasad Deuri, Constable Ramchandra Hembram, and others, joined the effort.
