Denied space, Dalit cremates wife in courtyard

MORENA (MADHYA PRADESH): A Dalit man in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district cremated the body of his wife in front of his house, claiming he was not allowed by upper

MORENA (MADHYA PRADESH): A Dalit man in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district cremated the body of his wife in front of his house, claiming he was not allowed by upper caste people to use the cremation ground.

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The man, identified as Bablu, claimed the cremation ground has been encroached upon by “upper castes”. However, the local administration said the land was illegally occupied by the Dalits.

The incident occurred in Garhi village of Morena’s Ambah town on Tuesday. When Bablu arrived at the cremation ground with his wife Pooja’s body, he was told the land belongs to the so-called upper caste people.

Dalit villagers said they faced the same problem as the “upper castes” had started farming on the land meant for cremation.

Sub-divisional magistrate (revenue) DC Sandhi on Thursday said there was a cremation ground for Dalits in the village but it was illegally occupied by a few people of the same community.

He also denied that Bablu was stopped from using the cremation ground. Sandhi said Bablu was given financial assistance of Rs 10,000 and the authorities have begun the process to remove encroachment from the cremation land.