Cadaver chaos: Uproar in Odisha Assembly over Keonjhar incident; Congress stages walkout
Bhubaneswar, April 30 (IANS) The Special Session of Odisha Assembly began on Thursday amid massive uproar over the shocking incident in Keonjhar district, where a tribal man exhumed and carried his sister’s skeletal remains to a bank after being asked by bank officials to produce a death certificate and legal heir certificate to initiate the death claim process a few days ago.
As soon as the session commenced, Congress members, holding placards, assembled near the podium of Speaker Surama Padhy and raised slogans over the Keonjhar issue, accusing the government over the tragic incident.
The Congress MLAs later staged a walkout from the House for 15 minutes over the issue.
They later returned to the House and participated in the discussion on the motion moved by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on women’s participation in Indian democracy.
Speaking to the media, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, Rama Chandra Kadam, stated that the shameful incident in the Chief Minister’s home district has tarnished the state’s image globally.
He alleged that despite visiting the bank multiple times to withdraw money from his deceased sister’s account, tribal man Jitu Munda failed to receive justice.
The CLP leader further compared Jitu Munda’s ordeal to the harrowing incident of Dana Majhi carrying his wife’s body for over 10 kilometers in Kalahandi, Odisha, a couple of years ago after being denied a hearse by a government hospital.
Kadam demanded that the Chief Minister resign on moral grounds, stating that the government had failed to ensure justice for a deceased woman from his own district.
Meanwhile, senior Congress MLA, Tara Prasad Bahinipati, said that the party had submitted a written request to the Assembly Speaker, seeking permission to move a motion for discussion on the Keonjhar issue to ensure justice for the deceased tribal woman and her brother, Jitu Munda.
However, the Speaker did not allow the motion, following which Congress members staged a walkout for 15 minutes.
It is pertinent to mention here that a 42-year-old tribal man, Jitu Munda, from Dianali village under Patna police station limits in Keonjhar district, had visited the Mallipashi branch of Odisha Grameen Bank on April 27 to withdraw money from the account of his deceased sister, Kalara Munda, who had recently died without any legal heirs.
However, the bank officials told Munda that he had to produce the death certificate and legal heir certificate to process the death claim. Irked with bank officials, the tribal man, in a state of distress, exhumed the buried remains of his deceased sister, carried her remains on his shoulder and brought it to the bank for compliance. The incident shock the whole country.
–IANS
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