Official apathy stalls Odisha woman’s last rites

BHUBANESWAR : Two days after a video of Dana Majhi carrying his wife’s body went viral and triggered a nationwide outrage, officials of Kalahandi district on Friday made him run from pillar to post in the name of holding an inquiry, forcing him to postpone the last rites of his wife.

“I could not even perform dibi (last rites) of my wife,” Majhi said.

Through the day, Majhi and his 12-year-old daughter were taken from one office to another and coached by officials about what to say before the media At the end of the day, he was handed over five crisp thousand-rupee notes as compensation.

Justifying the move to summon Majhi, Kalahandi sub-collector Sukanta Tripathy said listening to him was essential to wrap up the probe.

Prakash Majhi, a local tribal leader, said if the government was really serious, the officials could have gone to his village and conducted the probe. “Majhi was insulted twice in the last two days,” he added.

Kalahandi collector Brunda D said a nurse and security guard who were supposed to be on duty when Majhi took his wife’s body will be booked for negligence