Breaking with convention and following their spiritual belief in gender equality, two daughters-in-law from Ludhiana shouldered the body of their mother-in-law, Sukhdev Kaur, who died on Thursday, as the family carried her mortal remains to an ambulance for donation to a medical institution for research.The two women, accompanied by Sukhdev Kaur’s two sons, carried the body on their shoulders for a few metres before handing it over for transport to Harmony Ayurveda College and Hospital in Ferozepur. Family members said they had pledged to donate her body for medical research nearly a decade ago. Her eyes were donated separately to an eye surgeon.A video of the daughters-in-law carrying the body has since gone viral on social media, drawing attention to the family’s decision to give the women a central role in their mother-in-law’s final journey.Yadvinder Singh, Sukhdev Kaur’s son and a bank employee, said that his mother had told both her daughters-in-law long before her death that they would perform the last rites.“Not only this, our wives were told that they would carry the body on their shoulders from the front, while the sons would walk behind them. Our Dera teaches us the importance of girls in society,” Singh said.Speaking to The Tribune, Dera follower Butta Singh said that followers of Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa followed the teachings of its leader, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.“The family had decided about 10 years ago that Sukhdev Kaur’s body would be donated to students for research purposes. Her eyes have been donated to Dr Ramesh, a renowned eye surgeon,” Butta Singh said.The family, which lives in Pratap Singh Wala, is a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda and believes that there should be no distinction between boys and girls.“At the Dera, mass marriages are conducted, and willing girls and their parents take the grooms to their homes, just as girls traditionally go to their in-laws’ homes after marriage. At the Dera, both men and women are considered equal,” Butta Singh said.He claimed that Ludhiana has more than 20,000 Dera followers.