Religion row stalls woman's last rites

Guwahati: Two days after Tulsi Das hanged herself, allegedly after a tiff with her husband, her body was lying at the Tinsukia police station in Upper Assam due to a dispute over her religion and how her last rites should be performed.

According to the police, Tulsi Das, 23, had eloped with Bitu Ali, 27, about four months ago. Though they lived together in a rented house in Tinsukia, they did not have any official record of getting married.

The police said that Muslim clerics refused to grant her space in their graveyard as there was no evidence of her wedding with Ali, and that Hindus were opposed to her cremation as she had married outside the faith.

The police said that the couple, who often quarrelled, had a tiff on Saturday also after which Ali left the house. The woman locked herself in and committed suicide by hanging, thepolice added. Ali works in hotel at Margehrita.

“On hearing of his wife’s death, Ali went back to Tinsukia and brought her body to Margherita for burial. But, he was turned back from two burial grounds on Sunday as he didn’t have any documentary proof of his wedding as per Muslim rituals,” the police said.

Again, the body was taken to her hometown Digboi, nearly 17 km away, in an attempt to cremate her. But, locals refused to allow the last rites according to Hindu rituals.

“This is a very unfortunate incident. We have contacted the family members of the deceased. Till a final decision is taken on her last rites, the body is in our custody and sent to a government hospital morgue,” Puna Gogoi, in-charge of Tinsukia police station, said on Monday.