Kangra man carries Covid+ mother’s body on shoulders for cremation

To prevent recurrence of such an incident, DC orders that administrative officer will be present at cremation of Covid-19 victims in the district

A resident of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh was forced to carry the body of his mother, who died of Covid-19, for cremation on his shoulders, after villagers and relatives refused help fearing they might contract the virus.

A video grab of the man carrying the body of his mother, who died due to Covid-19, for cremation on his shoulder after villagers and relatives refused to help at Bhangwar village in Dharamshala on Thursday.

The incident took place at Bhangwar village near Ranital town, 35km from Dharamshala, on Thursday after the photo of Vir Singh, wearing a PPE kit and carrying the body on his shoulder, was widely shared on social media.

The woman was a former up pradhan (deputy head) of the Bhangwar panchayat. She tested positive earlier this week and was in home isolation.

The son carried his mother’s body on his shoulders, while his wife followed him with the cremation material in one hand and held on to their toddler with the other hand as nobody came to help them.

When contacted, Bhangwar panchayat pradhan Suram Singh said he was suffering from fever and couldn’t go to Vir Singh’s house. “But I had talked to him to convey that the administration was sending PPE kits for the cremation. However, Vir Singh. refused saying his relatives were bringing the kits. The ASHA worker had also contacted the family,” Suram Singh said.

The panchayat pradhan said he contacted tractor-trailer drivers to take the body for cremation, but they refused.

“Vir Singh didn’t tell me that his relatives and villagers had also refused to help,” the village head said, adding that some villagers had helped the family by cutting wood for the cremation.

Onus also on society: Deputy commissioner

Deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati said Vir Singh had taken the body for cremation before administrative help could reach him. “However, here the onus also lies on society. Why did the villagers and relatives, who brought the PPE kits, not help the aggrieved family?” the DC said. “Are we so afraid of the virus? If people don’t help each other in such a crisis, they are already dead,” he said.

Prajapati said he has now passed an order that the cremation of people who die of Covid-19, whether in hospital or at home, will be carried out by the administration so that no such incident happens again. He said an administrative officer, either an SDM or a tehsildar or a naib tehsildar, will remain present at the cremation.