Neighbours stay away, kin carry body in trolley

BERHAMPUR: The stigma of Covid-19 is following families even in death. On Monday, family members of a 30-year-old youth of Buguda in Ganjam district had to carry his body in a trolley rickshaw for cremation after relatives and neighbours refused to help them fearing he died of the virus.
Only a few family members, including the deceased’s brothers, accompanied the body and performed the last rites.
Sanyasi Patra was allegedly suffering from fever and cough for the past few days. He, however, did not go for a Covid test and died on Monday. Since he was suffering from fever, neighbours and relatives suspected he might have died due to Covid-19. Fearing the killer virus might infect them as well, they stayed away from the cremation ground, on the outskirts of the town. Family members were forced to hire a trolley rickshaw to carry the body to the cremation ground.
Executive officer, Buguda NAC, Rashmi Ranjan Das said the family members of the deceased did not seek an ambulance from them. “Though we did not have an ambulance, we could have arranged one,” Das said.
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