Sambalpur, April 5: Social stigma and superstition about leprosy led Baipali villagers to boycott the funeral of a 70-year-old woman, whose husband had died of the disease several years ago.

The boycott forced daughters of Dei Pradhan, the deceased, to shoulder her bier to the crematorium on a charpoy and perform her last rites yesterday.

As no one came forward to lend shoulder to take the bier of Pradhan, because her late husband had suffered from leprosy, her daughters, Chandrakanti, 35, and Rechi, 30, carried the bier to the crematorium. Chandrakanti is married and her husband was among the three pall-bearers.

Prdahan, whose husband had left the village around 25 years ago because of leprosy and died somewhere else, breathed her last yesterday around 9am.

Chandrakanti, Rechi and Chandrakanti's husband waited for their relatives and villagers to arrive and help them carry the body to the cremation ground.

However, the body lay in the house till the evening as no one turned up.

Even Pradhan's brothers, who live at nearby Sarkanda village, did not come to the rescue of the family.

When nobody turned up, the two sisters and Chandrakanti's husband carried the body on a charpoy to the cremation ground where the elder girl lit the pyre.

"My mother died due to old age and illness. However, nobody wanted to carry her body to the cremation ground. We had no option but to do the job ourselves," said Chandrakanti, adding that she was not even aware of the disease her father had suffered from.

A social worker, Surendra Meher, who stays at the nearby Sarakanda village, had gone to Baipali after coming to know about the boycott, said: "We requested the Baipali villagers to help the family. However, no one responded. My friend also made a call to the local sarpanch's husband and informed him about the incident. However, he also did not come forward to help. We offered to help the sisters carry their mother's body to the cremation ground, but they refused and carried it themselves. Later, we made the arrangements for cremation."

Sohela block development officer Biswajit Mohapatra said: "The deceased was getting old age pension. We have also given Rs 2,000 to the family under the Harischndra Yojna. Steps will also be taken to provide rice to the unmarried daughter of the deceased."