Heart-wrenching scenes unfolded in Bihar’s Vaishali when a desperate Mahadalit family cremated their elderly woman on a public road after shopkeepers blocked the crematorium route. Located in Goroul’s Sondho Mubarakpur Manjhi Tola, the event has become a rallying point for long-suffering locals.
Details reveal a pattern of injustice. The traditional access road to the shamshan, vital for funerals, weddings, and daily life, stands usurped by commercial setups. When the family approached with the deceased, traders stonewalled them, escalating a routine tragedy into public defiance.
Amid blaring horns and gathering crowds, the pyre was lit on the road itself— a poignant act of protest against years of blocked mobility. The disturbing visuals raced through WhatsApp groups and Twitter, amplifying voices from the fringes.
Authorities mobilized quickly: police secured the area, fire services doused the flames, and roads reopened after cleanup. However, visiting leaders encountered hostility, with protesters blocking them until assurances for anti-encroachment measures were voiced.
Community leaders decry this as the tipping point in a saga of deprivation. Mahadalit households here navigate daily humiliations without proper roads, schools, or sanitation. As probes launch into the encroachments, activists urge comprehensive reforms. This roadside rite forces a reckoning: in a growing India, no family should bid farewell on asphalt.