150 People Turn Up To Eat ‘Shradh Bhoj’ Of A Woman Who Was Abandoned After Covid Death

18-year-old Soni has lost both her parents within a span of 4 days. Mother followed father, who died after spending several days in hospital. A resident of Bishnupura Gram Panchayat of Bhiar’s Arariya district, Soni is taking care of her 14 year old brother, Nitish and 12 year old sister Chandni. She realised that no one was there to help her when she sought help for the last rites of her mother.?

Neither neighbours, nor the villagers came forward. Finally, Soni had to bury the body within the boundaries of her home. Her woes did not end there. She found as many as 150 at her door to eat the ‘Shradh Bhoj’ of her mother. Every single person who refused to help her perform last rites of her mother was there to enjoy free food.?

Soni’s father Birendra Singh used to run a pharmacy in the village. People used to call him Dr Saheb. When he fell ill recently, the family had to sell its goats and a cow in about Rs 20,000.

Soni kumari

While Soni’s father was struggling to survive, her mother Priyanka Devi contracted Covid. Already under debt, the family could not bear the expenses of her treatment and she too died within 4 days.?

With only her two younger siblings, Soni ran from pillar to post to seek help for her mother’s last rites. When nobody turned up, Soni buried the body of her mother within the premises of her home.

“All three of us had no choice. We didn’t have food. We were in deep grief after losing both of our parents,” recalls Soni.

soni kumari and co

Social worker Prabhat Yadav was the only one who came forward to help the three teenage siblings. District administration also gave some financial support to the family.?

After failing to perform proper last rites of her parents, Soni thought that organising ‘Shradh Bhoj’ would give peace to the departed souls. This time, she did not expect that 150 from the village will gather to eat the food. They also started demanding their money, given for her father’s treatment.

soni kumari house

Now, Soni is figuring out how to return all the money. She has returned some of the money from what was given to her by the district administration.?

There are many challenges for her even now. As Covid cases are spiking in the district, all she wants is to keep the remaining members of her family safe.