Hanshkhali (Nadia), April 13: Former Trinamul Congress MLA Satyajit Biswas had provided funds for the reconstruction of the unauthorized crematorium in Hanshali where the minor girl who was gang-raped and allegedly killed was cremated on April 5 morning.
The BJP leadership in the area has raised questions about how the MLA could spend government funds on a project that is unauthorized. Moreover, the local MLA of the party has also raised questions about the necessity of such funding at a time when the villagers had stopped using the crematorium for some practical problems.
Residents in the hamlet said that over a decade ago they contributed for purchasing land from a Muslim family which offered it to use as a crematorium since the nearest authorized crematorium located in Ranaghat on the bank of the Churni river is around 40 km away.
Villagers began using it for the last rites for their convenience like many other unauthorized burning ghats that surfaced in the area. But since problems cropped up in absence of any burning certificate that was mandatorily required for a death certificate, people gradually stopped using the crematorium. Moreover the absence of any river stream that required to immerse the ‘aasthi’ also discouraged people to use it.
Local sources said a few years ago a temple was constructed at the crematorium and the temple committee took charge of its management. An elderly man was assigned the charge of the caretaker. But since his death last year, his wife Karuna Bawali has been looking after the crematorium. But, she could not recall when the last cremation was done before the victim girl’s that occurred on April 5 morning.
Nevertheless, later in 2015, former MLA Satyajit Biswas provided Rupees 2 lakhs from his LAD fund for the reconstruction of the crematorium.
“It was an illegal construction that the former Trunamul MLA done using government funds. This burning ghat later turned into a den of criminals where many bodies also burnt illegally without any death certificate”, BJP’s Krishnaganj MLA Ashis Biswas said.
A senior officer in the Nadia administration said, “MLA and MP LAD funds can’t be used on private land. There are
certain prohibitions on using such funds on certain works, but sometimes public interest gets priority. But for a crematorium, a definite legal mechanism needed to be put in to avoid any misuse. I don’t know how the MLA got the sanction”.
Ranaghat SDO Dr. Haarif Rasheed said, “I have joined barely a few days ago…I need to check facts and can reply only after that”.
On April 5 residents of a little hamlet in Gajna gram Panchayat of Nadia’s Hanshkhali woke up to an obnoxious burning smell. The villagers found smoke spiraling out of the crematorium amid the green surrounding paddy field. The burning smell of human flesh with kerosene alerted them that a human body set on fire at the crematorium after a long time.
Speaking to The NfN on Wednesday caretaker of the crematorium Karuna Bawali said, “People seldom come here for the last rites. Even during Covid, nobody was burnt here. Last Tuesday I was forced to wake up following frantic summons by some local youths as they brought a body for cremation. It was after a long time the villagers brought a body. A man deputed by the puja committee who checks papers, however, was not present. So I asked them to wait but they seemed to be in a hurry and burnt the body”.