Odisha: Neighbours refuse to lend shoulder to 60-year-old leprosy patient, ostracise family

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Boudh (Odisha): In yet another shocking incident, a 60-year-old man was denied a proper cremation ceremony in Odisha's Boudh district, as neighbours refused to lend a shoulder to his body, as he was suffering from leprosy before his death.

As per the reports of ANI, none of the people in the Basudevpalli village of Boudh district helped with the cremation ceremony of Jaynarayan Sahoo, a retired bank official and a leprosy patient for a long time, after he passed away.

It forced his daughter to carry the body along with her brother Sanjib and her husband to the village cremation ground for funeral.

Talking to Hindustan Times, Sanjib said,“People of our own caste had shunned us due to our father’s leprosy. As no one helped us we were forced to do the last rites alone. Only the sarpanch of Manmunda helped us with Rs 2000."

Similar cases of ostracisation over the leprosy stigma have been reported before.

In April last year, two girls of western Odisha district of Bargarh were forced to carry the body of their 70-year-old mother for cremation after males in the village refused to help them. As per the reports, the family was ostracised by villagers after the woman’s husband was diagnosed with leprosy.

(With inputs from ANI)