Mumbai:
Should the police do a post-mortem operation on the bodies of two Jain Sadhvis killed in a road accident on the Western Express Highway? This question brought hundreds of protesting Jains to a hospital in Dahisar on Monday. The issue was resolved late in the evening after a senior Jain monk said that a post-mortem can be done.
The Sadhvis were killed at Nallasopara around 6am on Monday when a truck hit the group walking to Ahmedabad. The seven-member group had left a Jain temple in Nallasopara (East) just 30 minutes before that. Eye witnesses reported that the driver did not stop the vehicle after it hit the group. Members of the Jain community in Dahisar said that there were seven people in the group. While one person is reported to have passed away instantly, one injured Sadhvi died while on the way to the hospital.
Apart from the dispute over the post-mortem, members of the group also wanted to hold the funerals before sunset. "To pacify the crowd, the police said that they will not do a post-mortem procedure and will just take the body to the hospital for a medical examination," said Ramnikbhai Shah, a member of the Achalgach Jain Samaj, a group representing the Shwetambar Murtipujak Jain community in Dahisar.
The bodies were taken to Bhagwati Hospital in Borivli for a post-mortem and were cremated later in the evening. The names of two of the dead Sadhvis are Harshpurnashri, reported to be aged between 45 and 50 years, and Gunshriji, 50.
The names of those admitted at the ICU of Navneet Hi-tech Hospital in Dahisar are Ritipurnashriji, 40, and Anandjirnashriji, 35. Doctors said that the injured Sadhvis are in a critical condition.
Jain holy men and women do not use vehicles to travel and they traverse the long distances between temples on foot. The walking is usually done in the mornings and in the evenings before sunset. They usually take a break during hot afternoons.
"Accidents are rare. But the increase in traffic on the roads has made their journeys more dangerous. Since they cannot carry battery powered torches, they are told not to travel when visibility on the roads is bad," said Lalit Doshi, a member of Mulund Shwetambar Murtipujak Sangh.
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