West Bengal family forced to bury COVID victim outside their home

After waiting for 12 hours for the authorities to dispose of their father's body, who had died due to coronavirus, two brothers in West Bengal's East Medinipur district themselves wore PPEs and buried the body outside their home as villagers did not allow the cremation to take place at the local ghat.

Kolkata (West Bengal): The family of a COVID victim in West Bengal's East Medinipur district was forced to bury the body in the compound outside their house on Thursday night after waiting 12 hours for the authorities.

According to reports, the 70-year-old, a resident of a village in Kolaghat, about 80 kilometres from Kolkata, had fallen sick last Sunday. He was taken to a hospital for a coronavirus test the next day after which he went home.

On Thursday, the family was informed he was coronavirus positive and an ambulance would be sent to take him away to the hospital. However, just as the family received the news, the man's condition took a turn for the worse and by the time the health department ambulance arrived, he was dead.

The ambulance left, saying they could not carry a body and the police would have to take care of it.

The family waited for several hours. Some officials came, but only to throw two Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits into the compound of the house and inform them that the deceased's two sons should perform the last rites.

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They decided to cremate the man at the village ghat. However, they were stopped by locals who said COVID-19 victims should be cremated away from populated areas.

In desperation, late at night, the two sons wore the PPEs, dug a grave in the compound of their house and buried their father. In the morning, locals objected to that too as the grave was very close to a village road used by everyone.

In another glaring lapse, no health official has come to take swabs of the family to test them for the coronavirus since Thursday.

Officials did not respond to phone calls. A panchayat member said the family would be tested for coronavirus on Monday.

Read:West Bengal: COVID-19 patient escapes from hospital, brought back by police