Panaji: After TOI reported that a family in Pernem left their brother’s body at the municipal crematorium because they could not afford wood for the pyre, local MLA Pravin Arlekar said he was not informed. He said he would have arranged assistance for the last rites if he had known in time, and added that he plans to meet the relatives of the deceased, Ashok Vishnu Palyekar, to offer help.Palyekar, 65, lived in Deulwada, Kasarvarne, in a makeshift dwelling. Following the amputation of his leg two years ago, he lost his low-paying hotel job and depended on support from his two widowed sisters, who live in nearby villages and survive on a monthly govt pension of Rs 2,000. They alternated caring for him between their homes and his small structure.On Sept 13, the day before Ganesh Chaturthi, he became unwell and was taken by a 108 ambulance to Kasarvarne health centre, where he was declared dead on arrival.Believing that cremation for the poor would be provided at no cost at Pernem municipal crematorium, the sisters gathered what little money they had, hired a vehicle, and transported the body there. Reaching in the evening, they found no staff present, and the crematorium deserted ahead of the festival.With no funds left to buy wood for the pyre or to transport the body elsewhere, they left it at the site, a decision police later linked to desperation and the expectation that authorities would step in to ensure a dignified last rite.
