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Bihar Covid-19 survivor’s family speak of undeclared, unspoken social boycott
The Bihar family says village elders should come forward to send a message that a coronavirus patient should not be stigmatised.
A coronavirus survivor and his family in Bihar’s Siwan district is facing social boycott days after the patient was cured and his family completed 14-days of quarantine apart from testing negative for the disease, not once but thrice. The ostracized family says they do not venture out of the home to avoid questioning glaze and said something must be done to prevent social distancing from turning into social discrimination.
“Only a coronavirus survivor and his/her family members can understand the kind of social stigma we face these days. It’s painful and depressing,” a cousin of the coronavirus survivor said.
The coronavirus survivor had returned from Dubai just before the lockdown was announced. He was screened and stamped at the Lucknow airport before being quarantined at his village home under Angauta Panchayat in Nautan block of Siwan district. After he tested positive, he was taken to Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) and 13 of his family members were sent to a quarantine centre in Patna.
It has been 39 days since his test results came. The patient is completely fit now and back home. The family members were also found negative in all the three test reports, the cousin quoted above added.
“However, back home, our neighbours failed to maintain common courtesy. People are not ready to even look at us. Their kindness will boost our morale and will help us get over the physical pain and the mental trauma,” he said.
People in other areas (Tola) of the village, he said, consider the entire area as a prohibited zone.
“There’s a rumour in the village that our family got into trouble because of black magic and some unseen forces,” he said.
“It’s the hostile response which has forced my cousin to remain under home quarantine despite being declared fit by the doctors. Even the members of the family avoid going out,” he added.
The family was hurt so much that it rarely stepped out of their home even for necessary errands, the cousin said.
“I do not go out to buy grocery or vegetables to avoid the questioning gaze of people. Even the store owner does not want me to come there. It’s time some eminent village residents send a message that the disease is not a stigma, but only an infection and that social distancing should not be turned into social discrimination,” he said.
Shastri Ram, the husband of the Panchayat mukhiya, said there were reports of social discrimination from the coronavirus survivor’s area. “It’s mainly because of fear and lack of knowledge about the disease among the residents. We are trying to stop it,” he said.
He said the family was provided food grains and other essential items.
Sohila Gupta, zila parshad and a member of the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) from Nautan block, Siwan, said there was a need to raise awareness among people, especially in rural areas, about the disease.
“They need to be explained the difference between social distancing and discrimination,” she said.
Sunil Kumar, DDC, Siwan, said that people often fail to understand that after a patient is declared negative for coronavirus, there is no need to fear or avoid him/her.
“To clear this confusion, once a patient recovers, he or she is declared a coronavirus survivor and is given a grand welcome by the Panchayat Mukhia and others,” he added.
The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19
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