Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 9: Two women Shakuntla Devi and her daughter-in-law Poli Devi, who were killed in Pakistan shelling at their village Chilyari in Samba sector yesterday morning, couldn’t be cremated in their native village due to unabated shelling from across the border.
The cremation of both the women was performed at Shakuntla’s paternal village Rehiyan, about two kilometers from Chilyari, which was located comparatively in safer location, at 3 pm today.
As Shakuntla Devi’s husband Booti Ram, son Saudagar Mal (husband of Poli Devi) and two grand children Kuldeep and Koshal Kumar were admitted in the GMC Jammu after undergoing surgeries yesterday, none of the family members was available for cremation. All four family members were injured in the shelling yesterday.
Shakuntla’s brother Krishan Chand lit the funeral pyre of both the women in the presence of a large number of border villagers.
DC Samba Mubarak Singh and SSP Samba Anil Magotra have assured immediate ex-gratia in favour of the kin of the dead and injured.
“In our culture, we tell our daughters on their marriage that when they die, they have to be cremated at the house of their in-laws. But today, because of the situation on the border and continuous shelling from the Pakistani side, we are forced to cremate her at our village where she was born,” Krishan Chand said.
“The situation at the Chilyari village which is situated just a kilometer from the international border is so bad that we are unable to even cremate our dead as per our customs and traditions,” said Jat Ram Bhagat, a villager.
Shukantla’s family members also alleged that so far the State Government had not done much for them and they have not received any compensation.
“We are paying for the treatment of the injured from our own pocket. The Government is not providing our injured with any medicines. We have to purchase the medicines from the market,” they said.
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