Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s wife Sita Dahal has been cremated with state honors.
PM Dahal lit Sita’s funeral pyre at the Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu on Wednesday afternoon. He had also lit the funeral pyre of his son Prakash six years ago.
Dahal’s daughters Renu and Ganga, daughters-in-law Sirjana Tripathi and Bina Magar, and grandchildren paid their last respects to Sita before her cremation.
An emergency Cabinet meeting held in the morning had decided to accord Sita a state funeral.
A contingent of Nepal Army offered a gun salute to Sita and her body was draped with the national flag as part of the state honor.
Her body was earlier kept at the central office of CPN (Maoist Center) at Paris Danda, Koteshwar, from 11 AM to 1 PM for paying tribute. Leaders of political parties, high-ranking government officials, chiefs of security agencies, heads of diplomatic missions and others had paid their last respects to her at Paris Danda.
Sita Dahal died while undergoing treatment at Norvic International Hospital in Thapathali on Wednesday morning. She was 69.
She was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday morning after the oxygen level in her body plummeted.
According to PM Dahal’s personal physician Prof Dr Yubaraj Sharma at Norvic International Hospital, Sita suffered a cardiac arrest at 8 AM and was declared dead at 8:33 AM Wednesday.
She had been suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, Parkinsonism, type 2 diabetes and hypertension for a long time.