On Wednesday, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) finished the cremation process of the 28 unidentified bodies of people who died in the triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district four months ago, according to officials.
According to BMC Mayor Sulochana Das, the cremation process for the unidentified victims of the train accident was finished Wednesday morning around 8 a.m.
According to Das, female volunteers actively took part in the funeral.
“Women volunteers notwithstanding any stigma came forward and lit funeral pyres of the bodies. They even do not know the religion of the deceased persons or whether the bodies were males or females,” the Mayor said.
The bodies had turned ice in the container where they were preserved for above four months, she said, adding that all the bodies were cremated at the Bharatpur crematorium by BMC.
Madhusmita Prusty (37), Smita Mohanty (53) and Swagatika Rao (34) who cremated the first three bodies, said: “We came forward on our own to do this sacred ritual for the unidentified bodies. They might be our relation in some previous lives”.
Rao said that the bodies were beyond recognition and one cannot identify whether they were males or females. “Above all, they were human beings and their last rites are done with dignity,” she said.
“All the unclaimed bodies have been cremated according to the state government, central government and NHRC guidelines,” a senior BMC official said, adding that the entire process of handing over bodies to the funeral has been videographed.
According to the official, the DNA of the bodies was preserved for any potential legal issues as well as for investigation purposes. “Though nobody came to claim the 28 bodies in the four months, anyone may make any claim later. Therefore, keeping in view the legal issues, we have preserved the DNA,” said Prof Pravas Tripathy, head of the Anatomy department of AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
With Agency Inputs
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