The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a crunch for space. The shortage of space in crematoriums and graveyards has forced the people to take odd measures for dumping the bodies.
While river Ganga is overflowing and contaminated by the bodies flowing on it, the crunch for woods is also growing profound. Many people couldn’t even attend the last rites of their loved ones who died due to COVID as either they were infected with it, or they were not able to travel to the site. Hence some of the crematoriums in Delhi have stored the ashes of bodies whose family members couldn’t attend their last rites.
As the people are disposing of the bodies in rivers, which remains the primary water source or a religious sentiment for many people, they are slowly getting contaminated. The contaminated water is very harmful to the human body as it contains the live virus and several other harmful substances for humans. Several microorganisms and scavengers tend to contaminate this water.
Similarly, the Ganga river is a holy water source and many people dip their bodies in it to cleanse their sins. But the cleaning of Ganga is needed as it will lead to several other infections if humans come in contact with it.
Video of COVID patient’s body dumping in the river went viral, 2 people held
In a shocking incident in UP’s Balrampur, a man has been arrested for dumping the body of his uncle, who was succumbed to death due to the COVID-19 complications on May 28. A local person is also held for assisting the man in dumping the body. They were arrested after a video went viral which showcased their act. The body was of Prem Nath Mishra (65) who developed COVID-19 complications on Friday. The man died 3 days after he was admitted to the hospital.
“The body was handed over to family members following COVIDUP’s law. It turned out that prima facie, the body was thrown into the river and opened a case, ”said Balrampur Chief Medical Officer VB Singh. After the video surfaced, a MOTO was installed at Kotwali (Dehat) station against Mishra’s nephew Sanjay Kumar, a local known as Manoj. The FIR was based on an ambulance driver’s complaint, officials said. The suspects were charged under the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act.
The video was shot by a passerby who later shared the video on social media. He lodged a complaint in which he mentioned, “At 12:30 pm on May 29, the body of the deceased person was handed over to his nephew Sanjay Kumar as per the COVID-19 protocols.
When the video went viral, speculations surfaced that the body was thrown by the hospital staff, but it is not true because the body was immediately handed over to the family members.” Asked if Sanjay was questioned about his cause, Police Superintendent Arvind Mishra said, “That will be part of the investigation. We can’t comment on that yet.”
