11-year-old girl denied burial over caste issue

March 30, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 10:25 am IST - Bengaluru

11-year-old Swetha, who died of cancer.

11-year-old Swetha, who died of cancer.

Differences over caste haunt not just the living but also the dead, as the controversy over the burial of 11-year-old Swetha, who died of cancer in the city, indicates.

The local community in Hennur refused to allow the girl’s burial as she belonged to a different caste. They refused to relent for two consecutive days, despite police intervention on Sunday.

With no option left, the bereaved family was forced to transport Swetha’s body to their home town Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

Devi Chikkamma, Swetha’s aunt, said though the family was from Krishnagiri, they had been living in Babusapalya, near Hennur, for the past 30 years.

“We had performed the last rites our family members here in the past. But this time, the local community did not let us, saying that we belong to a different community,” she said.

On Sunday, the family members approached the police after failing to convince the local residents. The police summoned the local community members and tried counselling them. They community members, however, refused to budge.

The police denied the caste angle, claiming that the burial ground is on encroached lakebed, which is why local people objected to the burial.

Hegdenagar ground

“We had even arranged a place in Hegdenagar burial ground for the last rites and assured security to the family. But they decided to take the body to their home town fearing repercussion,” a senior police officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district V. Shankar said it was illegal to object to the last rites of any person in any graveyard citing caste and community reasons, unless it is a private burial ground.

The district administration had identified around 200 burial grounds in and around Bengaluru Urban for all communities.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.