Tanahu, Oct 23: Breaking the social norm that a woman should not carry the dead body and perform cremation rituals, women here have carried the body of a deceased person to the Damaulighat, the confluence of the Setimadi river. Women affiliated to the Vedavyas Senior Citizens' Ashram at Chapaghat in Byas Municipality-5 took the mortal remains of Jagat Bahadur Adhikari, 86, to the Ghat for cremation.    

According to Savitra Shrestha, the chairperson of the ashram, the women have been carrying the bodies to the pyre after the death of their dependent mother and father. She said that the women belonging to the same ashram helped carry out the funeral according to the ethnic tradition.    

It was done to convey the positive message that families with only daughters should not look for a son to carry the corpse and perform the death rituals, said Sakuntala Ale, vice-chairperson of the ashram. After the death of 90-year-old Aitumaya Thapa seven years ago, the chairperson of the ashram Shrestha and other women carried the body to the pyre for the first time.    

So far, five dependents of the ashram have died. All of the bodies were carried by the women to the cremation site.    

A group of women came together and collected funds to run an ashram for the helpless since 2070 BS.