Two days after his father was shot dead by militants in front of his eyes, eight-year-old Tanuj lit the funeral pyre in Balasore’s Ishani village as his mother fainted repeatedly and his grandmother was too grief-stricken to speak.

Thousands of mourners, including Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi, gathered to pay their last respect to Prasant Kumar Sathpaty, killed in Pahalgam while holidaying with his family. Prasant’s wife Priyadarshini was inconsolable and lost consciousness several times. Prasant’s 70-year-old mother, Padmabati, was devastated beyond words.

Majhi extended his condolences to the grieving family and announced an aid package of ₹20 lakh, along with a government job for Priyadarshini. Majhi also pledged to sponsor the education of Tanuj, a student of Class IV at DAV Public School in Balasore. Prasant was an employee of the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology.

Prasant’s body arrived in Bhubaneswar late Wednesday night from Delhi before being taken to his native village in Balasore. Majhi and other state ministers were at the Biju Patnaik Airport to receive the body.

Prasant’s younger brother, Jayant Kumar Satapthy, who had rushed to Srinagar to be with Priyadarshini and Tanuj, said: “The government of India must take decisive action. We need to seek justice for the tourists killed, including my elder brother. Although my brother will never return, we will find some solace in knowing that strong action has been taken against the terrorists.”

Jayant said locals in Kashmir had told him that the militants had deliberately targeted Hindus to create division among the people. He requested firm action against the perpetrators. Jayant said that during a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in Srinagar, he had said his brother’s death must be avenged.

“Since the tragedy, Tanuj hasn’t uttered a word. We don’t know how to console him. It’s too difficult,” Jayant said.