Dana Majhi revisited: Man carries body on shoulders

Bhubaneswar: Even as the infamous incident of Dana Majhi carrying the corpse of his wife on his shoulders in Odisha’s Kalahandi due to his inability to afford conveyance is yet to fade away from the memories of people, a similar heart-wrenching incident has come to the fore in Rajkanika block of Kendrapara district.

Reports on Thursday said Sarat Barik of Kothasahi village under Rajkanika block had to carry his father Rabi Narayan Barik’s body on his shoulders due to the unavailability of hearse or any conveyance at the community health centre where the latter was admitted.

Sarat’s father was admitted to a local CHC due to jaundice on Tuesday. However, he died while undergoing treatment. As Mr Barik didn’t have a single penny to arrange a conveyance to carry his father’s body back to the village, he requested the CHC authorities to help him. As there was no hearse facility, the authorities expressed their inability to help.

With no other option left, Mr Barik carried the body on his shoulders for about 1km and was assisted by his uncle, who reached the spot after receiving the sad news.

In the midway, a person helped Mr Barik, allowing the body to be carried on his bike to the village. Later, the deceased’s final rites were conducted in the village.

Although the body was kept on the hospital verandah for over two hours, the health officer-in-charge of the CHC ironically clarified that he was unaware of the incident

“I was attending a meeting of the Panchayat Samiti when the incident took place. There is no conveyance facility in the CHC for carrying corpses,” said Dr Ajit Das, the health officer-in-charge of the CHC.