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Her 3 sons devoured by Covid and grandchildren in jail, woman performs last rites of husband
PATNA Breaking age-old Hindu traditions, a woman in her 70s in Bihar’s Banka district on Thursday performed the last rites of her husband as she was left with no other option due to cruel quirk of fate after Covid-19 struck her entire family and snatched her three sons and her husband
PATNA
Breaking age-old Hindu traditions, a woman in her 70s in Bihar’s Banka district on Thursday performed the last rites of her husband as she was left with no other option due to cruel quirk of fate after Covid-19 struck her entire family and snatched her three sons and her husband.
Nirmala Devi’s husband Shashidhar Kapdi (73) died of Covid on May 10 night at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JNLMCH), Bhagalpur.
Her daughter-in-law Kiran Bharti said Nirmala’s three sons, Prabhash Kumar Kapdi, Pappu Kapdi and Pramod Kapdi, died due to Covid in the last 20 days. While Pappu (40) died in Delhi on April 30, Prabhash (35) died at JNMLCH on April 22 and Pramod on May 1.
To matters worse, her grandsons, Akshay Kapri and Chhotu Kapri, are lodged in Munger jail.
Kiran Bharti said that on May 4, the Bhagalpur police arrested them on the charges of assaulting medical staff and vandalizing JNLMCH following mismanagement and negligence that caused the death of her family members.
Police said the accused alleged that their grandfather (Shashidhar) was not provided oxygen, causing the death, and attacked the doctors.
“When I reached hospital after cremation of my father, I found that the oxygen supply was switched off. I made a video and made it viral on social media. This led to police action against me,” alleged Akshay before being taken by the police.
“A woman going to the crematorium is prohibited in our traditions. But my love for my husband gave me the courage to perform the last rites. But it was very painful,” said Nirmala.
Banka’s district magistrate Suharsh Bhagat said Nirmala is a native of Ballikit village of Amarpur block. He said he had ordered ex-gratia as per law for the family.
