Daughters Challenge Social Customs, Perform Their Mother's Final Rites After Brothers Don't Show Up

In a move that broke the shackles of customs, four daughters carried their mother's body to the crematorium in Mangalaghat, Puri, Odisha. The daughters shouldered their mother's body after their two brothers didn't turn up for the funeral.

According to India Today's report, Jati Nayak, an octogenarian resident of Mangalaghat in Puri, passed away on Sunday. She had two sons and four daughters. Jati Nayak's neighbours had stated that neither of her two sons turned up for her final rites. In their absence, the four daughters decided to break the tradition of men carrying their parents' mortal remains and cremating their mother.

They walked for four kilometres to the cremation ground and performed their mother's last rites. One of the daughters, Sushila Sahu, said that her brothers did not care for our mother. "We four then decided to perform her last rites. With the help of neighbours, we carried the body and performed the last rites at the crematorium," she is quoted as saying in a News18 report.

The Sons Neglected Their Mother for Years

Jati Nayak had to work as a street vendor to fend for the family after her husband, the sole breadwinner, died. She struggled to get her sons and daughters married. Following their marriage, the sons lived with their own families and seemingly ignored their mother's plight. "My brothers did not take care of our mother," Sushila Sahu said.

As per a report by News18, a son-in-law of Jati Nayak had visited her home a few days before her death. She is reported to have said to her son-in-law, "you are my elder son. None of my two sons is taking care of me. They haven't visited me for years".

Another one of the daughters, Sitamani Sahu, stated that her brothers neglected our mother for the past ten years. She said they hadn't allowed her to stay with them and didn't inquire whether she was well. "Before her death, she had once become ill, and we had to shift her to hospital in an ambulance. Then, too, our brothers had chosen to remain indifferent."

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