A family in Guna, Madhya Pradesh, performed a woman’s final rituals in an open area near the district hospital mortuary after her father alleged that the landlord of their rented home refused to allow her body inside during a Navratri programme.
Pooja Rajak, 31, died during treatment at the district hospital after a prolonged battle with cancer, according to a report by the Times of India. Her father, Pahalwan Rajak, said the family had been living in a rented house in Ghosipura for around four years.
Rajak alleged that after Pooja’s death, the landlord told the family that a Navratri event was being held at the house and did not allow them to bring her body inside. The family therefore carried out her final adornment and other pre-funeral rituals in the open area beside the hospital mortuary before taking her body to the cremation ground.
The family was facing financial difficulties, and social worker Pramod Bhargava and cow protection volunteer Ram Singh Rajak assisted them, the report said. The account did not include a response from the landlord or details of any police action concerning the alleged refusal.
Pooja was originally from Badarwas and was married to Rakesh Lashkari of Indore. She is survived by two daughters and a son. Her father said she had been separated from her matrimonial home after her health deteriorated.
Rajak also alleged that Pooja’s husband had remarried and that the family had previously approached the police with complaints of assault against him. According to him, the husband and his second wife travelled to Guna after learning of Pooja’s death. He said the husband attended the rituals held near the hospital.
The incident places the family’s account against the practical vulnerability of households living in rented accommodation, where control over access to a residence can become especially consequential during a death. In this case, the family’s inability to conduct the rituals at home left the hospital premises as the reported location for the final preparations.
The report did not establish whether the landlord’s decision violated any specific local rule or whether authorities had recorded a formal complaint over the incident. It also did not provide an official statement from the police, the district administration, the hospital authorities or the landlord.
The family took Pooja’s body from the area near the mortuary to the cremation ground after completing the rituals, according to the report.
