Married Outside Caste 5 Decades Ago, 80-Year-Old Deogarh Woman Faces Social Isolation in Death

An octogenarian woman from a village in Deogarh district was allegedly refused cremation by her fellow community members because she had married outside her caste 50 years ago.

- MAYANK BHUSAN PANI/ ASHOK NANDA @Deogarh

The shocking incident of generational caste prejudice was reported from Jaraikela village in Tileibeni block of Deogarh district.

Eighty-year-old Basanti Mahakud died on Tuesday afternoon, but fellow community members did not step forward to give her a dignified goodbye. Her body was left unattended for hours before a social organisation conducted the cremation.

Basanti was childless and had become bedridden in the recent months due to old age.