DISGUSTING CROWD

Shannon News, 18 February 1927, Page 2

DISGUSTING CROWD

ROUND FBNERAL PYRE. EXTRAORDINARY SCENES. HINDU CREMATED. Disgraceful scenes were witnessed at the Grafton cemetery on Sunday, when a pushing, scrambing mob ot : sightseers behaved in extraordinary - manner round the funeral pyre of an '" elderly Indian whose remains were •- openly cremated there. ■■i ' Sunder Singh was a Punjabi, of the ." Sikh caste, and had booked his pas- / sa ge home to India to end his days ■■;■ with his people. He was, taken ill - suddenly, and died in Grafton Hos- ; - pital His countrymen arranged to ; cremate the remain;? at the local cemetery • £-■- i Several false alarms were given re- .:'' garding the hour at which the funer■v' al pyre was to be set alight. Hundreds flooded to the cemetery ■'- at 10 p.m. but left disappointed, an 'h hour later. At 9 a.m. on Sunday =••'.- they were back there. Some were so S. determined not to miss the ceremony J&v that they took their lunch with them. ?*?.' In the meantime the cremation S§ had been fixed for 2 p.m. and at that & ~hour there were hundreds gathered & in the vicinity of a heap of logs which been placed in an open grave. adjoining fences literally groaned Sunder the mass of men who took up fcvantage points. Some of the impous W sightseers stood on the graves of fc Chinese, others preferring the headfestbnesknd coping of the fenced IllVffraves. The crush was so. great Ikrmmd the pyre that the inner circle m r -«ao within a few feet of it. ™n even rushed the hoarse Rfand. climbed on top of it. ine Ipjfjdertaker had to brandish a h g

polo to frighten them down. This was a signal for a burst of wild hilarity and offensive language, while for a long time the proceedings resembled a pantomino performance. When the funeral procession wound across the cemetery, tho crowd cheered and somo disgusting remarks were mado concerning the dead man The body, which was wrapped in white linen, was placed in position, and wood and shavings were pilea round it. The brief service, in Hindustani, which was read by one oi Singh's countrymen, being over, the pile of logs was saturated with kerosene and lighted. Most of the morbid sightseers were driven back by the flames, but many waited until the pile was reduced to ashes. Singh had been 30 years in Australia, most of the time on the Clarence River. He had threo sons in India, and had sent £3OO to them a few weeks ago, intimating that he would join them soon. The burning of the body on a funeral pyre in the open is something unique, and special permission had to bo obtained from tho local coroner, before it could bo done.