The husband’s body has just arrived in the backyard. The whole house was crying. The old woman rushed to the backyard to see her husband. She started crying. Neighbourhoods tried to calm her down. She touched the husband’s body. She leant her head on his chest while crying. A few seconds later, the old woman got frozen! The family thought that she had fainted; everyone was trying their best to wake her up but did not regain consciousness. A doctor was immediately called, and after checking, he found the pulse had stopped. The old woman died three minutes after her husband’s body arrived. The incident took place in the Bharatpur police station area of Murshidabad. Family members and neighbours are saddened by such incidents.
Shankar Mandal and Niyati Mandal have been married for almost fifty years. 85-year-old Shankar and 68-year-old Neeti have a son and two daughters. All are married. The family is full of grandchildren. Shankar was suffering from age-related ailments for a long time. He had breathing problems. A few days ago, he fell seriously ill and was taken to Bharatpur Rural Hospital by his family members. But after returning home from the hospital, the old man became completely bedridden.
Shankar died on Tuesday night. The body was taken and kept in the yard. Niyati burst into tears while touching her husband for the last time. But he did not get up.
The last rites of the couple were completed at the village crematorium on Tuesday night. Sons and daughters cremate the bodies of husband and wife side by side.
Anant Mondal, who lost his father and mother on the same day, said, “I have never seen my parents apart since I was born. Both had the same opinion on everything. The two never argued. When my father scolded me. Mother came and kept me, but eventually today it didn’t even happen. Even death could not separate them.” He said that, ‘It is suffering, but still, I feel like I’m getting peace somewhere.”
