Dead tourist carried on trolley: OHRC seeks report from Puri collector, Railway IG

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Wednesday asked the Puri district collector and Inspector General of Police (Railways) to submit an inquiry report over the incident of carrying the body of a tourist on a trolley rickshaw for cremation in Puri on Tuesday.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the incident, the commission directed to submit the report within four weeks.

A group of tourists coming from Madhya Pradesh had come to Puri and during their stay in the pilgrim town, one of the male members of the group named Durni Bandeward suddenly fell ill and died on Tuesday evening.

Due to want of money and lack of any help from any quarters, the dead body of the deceased was taken in a trolley rickshaw to Swargadwar (cremation ground) in Puri for cremation by his wife.

“Although the wife of the deceased reported about the death of her husband at the Government Railway Police Station, Puri, there was no sign of any help from them. Such unhelpful attitude of the GRP, Puri in the instant case clearly illustrates that the sense of humanity has suffered a heavy casualty,” said the commission.

However, the district administration made arrangements to carry the dead body to Swargadwar in a proper manner and it proposed to provide necessary financial assistance to the wife of the deceased.