Odisha tribal stopped from cremating wife over non-payment of social penalty

Daily-wage labourer Kandra Soren in Kuchei village under Kuliana police station was not allowed to cremate his wife’s body after she died in a local government hospital on August 14. Parbati Soren, also daily wager, was diagnosed with jaundice.

A tribal man in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district was not allowed to perform the last rites of his wife for more than two days because his father had failed to pay a social penalty imposed by his clan members, police said on Friday.

Police officials, who had to intervene in the matter on Friday, said Kandra’s neighbours were upset with his father Sunaram Soren for marrying outside his clan more than two decades ago.(HT Photo)

Daily-wage labourer Kandra Soren in Kuchei village under Kuliana police station was not allowed to cremate his wife’s body after she died in a local government hospital on August 14. Parbati Soren, also daily wager, was diagnosed with jaundice.

Police officials, who had to intervene in the matter on Friday, said Kandra’s neighbours were upset with his father Sunaram Soren for marrying outside his clan more than two decades ago.

“As per their practice, the erring clan member has to pay a penalty called ‘pana’ amounting to Rs 12,000 to the villagers. The ‘pana’ usually consists of livestock,” said Mayurbhanj additional superintendent of police Abhimanyu Nayak.

“He is a daily labourer and had sold his livestock a few months ago to run his household,” said the police official.

No one from Kandra’s in-laws’ side turned up to help him as he had failed to pay the bride fee during his marriage.

When the villagers insisted on the payment of the penalty, Kandra reportedly told them that he would pay it once the cremation was over. As he waited for a signal from the villagers, his wife’s body started rotting.

However, the body was not released for last rites till late afternoon despite police intervention as villagers insisted on the payment of the “social penalty”. “We are trying to reason with the villagers. The corpse has started rotting badly,” Nayak said.

Kandra’s neighbour Ruhia Murmu said customs can never be overridden. “We all are following this for ages. How can he suddenly flout it?” Murmu asked.

Jatindra Nath Besra, a tribal researcher with North Odisha University in Mayurbhanj, said the pana system is in practice for decades.

“The tribals see non-tribals and even tribals outside of their clan as Diku and resent any attempt of diluting the age-old practice of marrying within their clan. The Santhali tribals make no exceptions for anyone, be it a minister or daily labourer. No serious attempts have been made to reform such a practice,” said Besra.

Among the Santhals, once a man and a woman like each other, then a Raibar (matchmaker) is appointed to negotiate between them. The woman’s father asks the man’s father for a bride price, which is generally divided among her parents and maternal grandparents. The woman’s brother a bull from the man.

Odisha’s revenue minister Sudam Marndi and his family were similarly excommunicated by Santhali tribesmen as “punishment” after his daughter married a man from outside the tribe in January 2016.

Marndi’s daughter Sanjivani, a doctor, had married a Brahmin at an elaborate ceremony attended among others by chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the then Governor SC Jamir. His ex-communication ended and he allowed back into his tribe only after he paid the penalty amount.