Well-paid nurse quits job to cremate unclaimed bodies in Odisha

A well-paid nurse, Madhusmita Prusty, quit her job some time back and began to help her husband in cremating COVID-19 and unclaimed dead bodies in Bhubaneswar. Madhusmita Prusty told ANI, "I was working as a nurse in the paediatric department of Fortis Hospital in Kolkata. I served patients for nine years in the hospital from 2011-19. I decided to return to Odisha and help my husband as he could not perform cremation work after injuries in his leg. I came back to Odisha in 2019 and started helping my husband in performing the last rites of abandoned dead bodies found at railway tracks, suicide cases and at hospitals."

"I performed last rites of over 300 Covid dead bodies last year at the crematorium, and 500 bodies in last two and half years in Bhubaneswar. Being a woman I was criticised for cremating bodies but I continued my work under Pradeep Seva Trust, which is run in my husband's name," she added. Prusty said, "We have signed an agreement with Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to pick up Covid dead body from Covid hospital and to perform the last rituals of the body at crematorium in Bhubaneswar."

Her husband Pardeep Kumar Prusty said, "I have been performing last rites of dead bodies for the last 11 years in Bhubaneswar. My wife has joined me during the last two and a half years. My wife and I also sell vegetables along with this work."