Neighbours suspect Jamshedpur man died of Covid-19, kin refuses to take body

The swab samples of the deceased have been sent for Covid-19 testing to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College (MGMMC).

The fear of contracting Covid-19 allegedly led to a family refusing to accept the body of a man who died of cancer on Monday, police said on Tuesday.

The man who was a cancer patient, died alone in a flat. (Representative photo/Getty Images)

Swab samples of the deceased have been taken and sent for Covid-19 testing to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College (MGMMC) after some of the neighbours expressed fear that the man could have died of Covid-19.

“Fifty-two-year-old Vivek Singh was living alone in a flat. Locals complained of foul smell after which we went and recovered Singh’s body but his family members living in Sonari locality of the city refused to accept it. As per our information, the deceased was suffering from cancer for a long time,” Ranjeet Kumar, Kadma Police Station officer-in-charge (OC), said today.

Locals said Singh was living in the flat alone for the past few years. They got suspicious after the stink began to emanate from his flat on Monday after which they informed the police.

When police contacted the sons of the deceased in Sonari they refused to accept the body and did not turn up. The police officer then summoned the surveillance and health department teams.

The OC said there was some dispute between the deceased and his wife and sons owing to which his wife was living separately for the last 10 years.

“We have kept the body in the MGMMCH mortuary and last rites will be performed only after the test report,” said Kumar.