9-yr-old performs dad's last rites even as his mom faints

BALASORE : In just over 48 hours, Tanuj Kumar Satpathy's life turned upside down. On Tuesday afternoon, the nine-year-old was enjoying the picturesque beauty of Pahalgam with his parents. On Thursday morning, the class IV student of a public school in Balasore performed his father's last rites as his grief-stricken mother fainted.

The entire village turned up to pay homage to Prasant Satpathy , 41, an employee of the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology in Balasore, when his mortal remains arrived at his ancestral home in Ishani village early Thursday.

As relatives prepared to take the body to the cremation ground, Prasant's wife Priyadarshini clung tightly to him. She passed out multiple times and had to be assisted by relatives. Nearby, Prasant's mother, Padmabati, sat numb beside her son's lifeless body.

All this while, Tanuj stood quietly beside his father's body - barely able to comprehend the situation as he followed the whispered instructions of grieving elders to perform the last rites.

Emotions ran high along the funeral procession route, with chants of 'Jai Hind' echoing through the village. Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi visited the bereaved family and also joined the funeral procession. Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi, BJP state chief Manmohan Samal, transport minister Bibhuti Jena, and other MLAs were present, too.