A 91-year-old woman’s last wish to donate her body for medical research was honoured by her sons in Bhubaneswar.
Basanti Mohapatra, who passed away on Tuesday night, had wanted her sons to forgo customary Hindu rituals and donate her body for medical research.
They did not keep any of her mortal remains to perform rituals. Her body was donated on Wednesday to the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital, Bhubaneswar.
Basanti’s husband, Gagan Bihari Mohapatra, was a school teacher and a follower of the Sarvodaya movement and Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement.
She had three sons. Satya Prakash, an environmental scientist who had worked for decades in Canada, passed away in 2021. Jnana Prakash is a retired Hindi professor, and Dipti Prakash is a social activist and educationist.
The family hails from Ertal village under the Basudevpur block of Bhadrak district.
Basanti’s younger son, Dipti Prakash Mohapatra, 57, said: “We have donated her body to fulfil our mother’s wish. She made a will 12 years ago to donate her body after death, when she was active and agile. She had also worked for Kasturba Trust.”
Family members said that Basanti, who had studied up to class 3, made a conscious decision to donate her body because she had always dreamt of becoming a doctor.
“She married young and couldn’t pursue her education after that. But overcoming all odds, she studied at home. She actively participated in many movements with my father-in-law,” said Mita Mohanty, her daughter-in-law.
She added: “In her earlier days, she used to be a social worker. She visited villages and assisted with deliveries of babies in rural areas.”
Prof Jnana Prakash Mohapatra said: “It is difficult to describe my mother. She had a progressive mindset and challenged traditional beliefs. She had a logical mind and never followed anything blindly.”
“On an average, we get around three to four body donations in a year in our medical college. In the case of Basanti Mohapatra, who was around 91, the body will be used for study purposes as most of her organs must be quite fragile,” said Prof BB Mohanty, department of anatomy, Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital.