Last rites of Matua matriarch to be held on Thursday

Thakurnagar (West Bengal), March 6 (IANS) The last rites of Matua matriarch Binapani Devi, popular as 'Boroma', will be held on Thursday, a family member said.

The mortal remains of the Dalit community leader, who passed away late on Tuesday following multi-organ failure at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, were originally scheduled to be consigned to the flames at the Matua Mahasangha headquarters known as 'Thakurbari' here on Wednesday afternoon.

"Lakhs of devotees have come to pay their tribute to Boroma. Many more will be coming tonight and tomorrow evening. So we have decided to hold her last rites tomorrow (Thursday) instead of today," All India Matua Mahasangha leader and Boroma's grandson Shantanu Thakur told IANS.

Her body reached the Thakurbari at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday from the Kolkata hospital.

"The family members are taking a decision on when the cremation should be held. It cannot be delayed for a long time as the body might start to rot. I think none of the family members want that," Boroma's elder daughter-in-law and Trinamool Congress MP Mamata Bala Thakur said.

The centurion breathed her last at 8.52 p.m. on Tuesday. She is survived by her younger son Manjul Krishna Thakur.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condoled the death and said she will be given a gun salute and state funeral.

Admitted to JNM Hospital in Nadia district on February 28 following shortness of breath and fever, Boroma was shifted to the SSKM on Sunday after her condition deteriorated.

On Tuesday, she was put on ventilator support after her condition became "extremely critical", hospital authorities said.

Boroma was the chief advisor of the Mahasangha, which is considered Bengal's second most influential Scheduled Caste community comprising primarily low-caste Hindu refugees from Bangladesh.

It has over one crore members spread over various southern Bengal districts, especially the North 24 Parganas.