Puri: Several stories of dignity being denied to the dead have surfaced in corona times around the world. One such heart-wrenching incident occurred in Puri district where the fear of getting COVID-19 infection kept relatives at bay and humanity died several deaths.
The said incident occurred yesterday at Mankargaradi village under Konark police limits in Puri district.
Sources said one Sanatan Rout’s only son Sadhua had fever and cough since past few days. On August 3, Sadhua was taken to Gopa Community Health Centre (CHC) where he was treated for Typhoid. He was also referred to the District Headquarter Hospital (DHH) in Puri for his swab samples to be tested for COVID-19. The next day, i.e. on August 4, when he was taken to Puri, the DHH’s OPD services were suspended since a few health workers had contracted coronavirus.
Sadhua passed away at 6 am on August 6 while on his way to Bhubaneswar for testing.
However, by this time the rumour mills had churned that Sadhua was a COVID-19 patient; which was actually never confirmed. The villagers shunned the family and even relatives avoided the last rite rituals amid corona scare.
Finally, Konark NAC’s officials arrived dresses in PPE kit and helped in last rites. The body had to be taken for cremation in a trolley rickshaw. A few members of the immediate family were present during the cremation ceremony.
