Crematory protests, shuts doors

Upset with the local police for forcing a Brahmin watchman at its Juhu crematorium to lift the ashes of the dead, the Mukteshwar Devasthan Trust has temporarily shut the crematorium in its care. The trust has alleged that the local police forced the watchman to commit the act after a family had claimed that the ashes of a relative who had been cremated there were not handled properly.

The trust has sought a probe into the matter and refused to open the crematorium till it is conducted. Further, the trustees have written to senior police authorities, including the additional police commissioner and deputy police commissioner of the area, asking them to intervene and book those responsible.

Apparently, the grieving family performed the last rites of one of their members who had passed away on August 14, leaving the pyre burning at the crematorium so that they could return later to collect the ashes. When the family returned to the crematorium on August 16, they found that the pyre was long doused and the ashes collected and preserved by the Devasthan to be returned to the family. But the fact that the Devasthan cleared the pyre, rather than waiting for the deceased’s relatives to do so, upset the family to no end.

When contacted, Manish Mhatre, secretary, Mukteshwar Devasthan Trust, told The Asian Age that it was standard procedure for the Devasthan to clear ashes after a pyre had been doused in cases when families did not return within 10 hours to claim the ashes. “However, this family got extremely angry and beat up the security supervisor, Alok Shrivastav. The family asked Mr Shrivastav, a Brahmin, to collect the remains of the pyre from the pit. When Mr Shrivastav refused to do so, the family went to Juhu police station and lodged an FIR against the trust for ‘irregularities’ in our practices,” said Mr Mhatre.

An officer said, “Upon receiving a complaint from the family, we arrested a person. Since the ashes were thrown in a gutter, we asked the arrested person to pick them up. Now, we will also investigate the matter from the Devasthan’s angle.”