No dignity even in death for Bihar's Covid-19 victims

In Bihar, the number of people dying from corona infection has increased steadily. Several questions are being raised at the administration about the arrangements in place to deal with the situation.

Katihar/Buxar (Bihar):A heartbreaking visual from Katihar in Bihar has gone viral on social media amidst the deadly havoc of Coronavirus. In the footage men wearing PPE, are seen dragging the bodies of covid victims from the ambulance all the way to the cremation ground.

The developments have led to several people blaming the Bihar government for having failed to make proper arrangements, especially in Buxar and Katihar, where there's no dignity even in death for Covid 19 victims. Especially, when the Deputy Chief Minister of the state is from Katihar.

In fact, after the death of a Covid victim, it has been claimed that the district administration had made arrangements for the last rites under the Bhasana bridge of Katihar-Purnia road. However, the visuals disprove the claims made by the administration.

In the video, three health department workers are seen dragging the deceased's body, instead of placing it on a stretcher. The shocking fact is that, amongst the three, while two were clad in PPE, one of the workers was not even provided the PPE kit

DM confirms the video

Katihar DM Udayan Mishra said that the viral video has been investigated and the incident took place in Katihar only. The video was deliberately made viral by the ambulance driver Amar Singh, adding that two people seen in the video, wearing PPE kits, work for the former.

The DM also said that prior to reaching the pyre site, the ambulance broke down and the stretcher kept in the ambulance was of no use.

"Amar Singh is the driver of the ambulance provided to us by the outsourcing agency in Patna and he has done this deliberately to demand more money, and in a bid to defame the health department. I am getting the whole matter investigated and if Amar Singh is found guilty, then strict action will be taken against him. Also, we are fully prepared to ensure that these kinds of incidents are not repeated," Udayan Mishra, the Katihar DM said.

Questions being raised on disposal of dead bodies

At the same time, when questions were raised regarding the disposal of the dead bodies, the DM said that a team has been formed to look into the matter adding that none of the men in the department are coming forward as they fear contracting the virus. To deal with this, they also contacted some NGOs through Red Cross.

We are also arranging more people for body disposal from the Municipal Corporation so that the bodies can be cremated with dignity.

Similar situation in 'Mini Kashi' Buxar

A similar situation was witnessed at the famous Buxar cremation ground which is known as 'Mini Kashi'. People were seen dragging the dead body of a Covid infected woman to the funeral site.

It is said that the woman in a critical condition was rushed to a Corona Care Centre for treatment by her relatives, wherein she breathed her last. Later, when the body of the woman was taken to the crematorium for last rites, three personnel wearing PPE kits were seen dragging her body.

The issue came to light after the local residents had informed the media about the incident.

"Policemen from three police stations are stationed at this cremation ground. Even then, three people wearing PPE kits are dragging the dead bodies in front of the officials for the last rites. This is a mockery of the system. The District Administration and District Health Committee officials should also see how well arrangements have been made at the crematorium," said Pappu Pandey, an eyewitness.

"By whom are the bodies being carried this way? It is being investigated and action will be taken after that. All arrangements have been made by the district administration for the cremation of bodies at the crematorium," said KK Upadhyay, SDM.

After this embarrassing act, the government and the administration have politicized the issue. CPI-ML MLA from Dumrao Ajit Kumar Singh lashed out at the arrangements made by the government and the district administration. If the situation now is like this, what would happen when the pandemic hits the peak? Singh asked.

To date, 1,979 persons have tested positive for Covid in Buxar district. So far, 26 people have lost their lives, while 522 people have recovered from the infection.