A landless Dalit man was forced to bury his wife inside his house in Bihar’s Madhepura district after his neighbours refused to allow him to cremate her in the village, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday. Madhepura Sub-Divisional Officer Brinda Lal said the administration will discuss the matter with the Kewatgama villagers and the sarpanch.

The official said they will demarcate an area to allow him to perform the last rites.

Daily wage labourer Harinarayan Rishidev said he had to bury his 35-year-old wife Sahogiya Devi inside his house after she died on Sunday. “She was suffering from diarrhea,” Rishidev told the daily. “When no villager was ready to allow a cremation on their land, I decided to bury her in my house.”

Rishidev is a Mahadalit, a special category created by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government to include the poorest among the Dalits. Rishidev demanded a separate cremation ground for his community in every panchayat. “I do not want this to be repeated with my other landless brethren,” he said.

The labourer said landless people were deprived of dignity in life as well as in death.