House bulldozed with dead woman inside, family recovers body from rubble

Officials say that the octogenarian had passed away 10 days earlier.

The family of an 85-year-old woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district has accused the administration of razing their home with her body inside, a charge denied by officials.

A family from Katni has alleged that the government razed their house despite the fact that an 85-year old dead person’s body lying inside. (Sikander Singh Chopra/Hindustan Times ( Representative picture))

The woman’s family in Sleemanabad town, 462 kilometres east of state capital Bhopal, said she died on December 28 and that her body was inside the house when a team of district administration came to demolish the building, which officials have said was built illegally on government land.

“I pleaded with them not to do so but they didn’t listen and demolished the house with a machine. We had to retrieve the dead body from the debris for cremation,” Shakuni Bai Chaudhary, the daughter-in-law of the house, alleged.

Chaudhary added they have been spending the nights in the open facing chilly winter winds as the administration didn’t help them later.

However, Katni district collector Shashibhushan Singh said the charges of the family are “completely baseless”.

“The fact is the 85-year-old woman died about 10 days back and there was no dead body in the house. The house was illegally constructed over the government hospital’s land,” Singh said.

“A notice was also issued to the family to vacate the place. The family sought two days time and later they themselves demolished the structure,” he said.

The spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit Rahul Kothari criticised the government for its move.

“This is the real and insensitive face of the Kamal Nath government which hardly cares about the poor. Strict action should be taken against the district administration for razing the house of the poor family and later not extending any help to it in the winter season,” Kothari said.

Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader Vivek Tankha tweeted his party “protects the poor”.

“I have brought the news about insensitive action by officials/officers in the demolition drive in Katni-where a dead body waiting for last rites also submerged in the debris. Chief minister Kamal Nath is a sensitive person. I have faith in his judgment. Congress always protects the poor (sic),” Tankha posted on Twitter.