BELAGAVI: Out of work and penniless, two children of a 57-year-old deceased woman spent three nights at Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) seeking help to cremate her body in Belagavi. The mother, Bharati Bastevadekar, was admitted to the government hospital due to age related ailments.
Bharati, from Ganeshpur village in the district, did not respond to treatment breathed her last on October 17. However, her sons did not have any money to perform her last rites.
The hapless duo decided to keep the body in the mortuary at BIMS and stay back at the government facility to seek financial assistance from visitors.
The duo was earlier working as waiters at a hotel. Fate dealt a harsh blow during the pandemic-induced lockdown. Their employer asked them to leave citing losses. Ramesh Bastevadikar, one of the brothers, told TOI, “Our mother's health started to deteriorate after we lost our jobs. Each day she appeared upset as we struggled to earn a living. This seems to have had a deep impact on her health and she fell sick.”
Ramesh said since they did not have any money for her treatment, they got her admitted to BIMS. Unfortunately she succumbed. The situation worsened when they realized they did not have money for the last rites. “We spent three days and nights at BIMS asking for financial assistance from anybody and everybody,” said Ramesh.
Later, Help for Needy, an NGO, learnt about the incident and extended financial helpto the brothers. Surendra Angolkar, who runs the NGO said, “We provided them the money required for the cremation and they have performed the last rites on Tuesday.”