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Covid-19 victim’s body cremated after 72 hours, relatives untraceable
The officials of Faraskhana police station and officials of Khadak police station tried to trace the relative, but with no success. The body, meanwhile, awaited cremation in the hospital morgue.
The story of a 46-year-old man who died due to the Covid-19 infection and had to await cremation for 72 hours pending tracking of relatives was the first of its kind in the city, according to the Sassoon General Hospital staff.
The reasons for the failure of his relatives to show up or turning incommunicado are not known. While the phone number provided by the relative who had come to admit the patient on June 9 was unreachable, the contact address was given by him also led to a dead-end, according to officials of two police stations.
The officials of Faraskhana police station and officials of Khadak police station tried to trace the relative, but with no success. The body, meanwhile, awaited cremation in the hospital morgue.
While the personal details of the person are not known, one of the reasons for which the relatives could have failed to show up could be the fear of Covid-19.
The rules of burial and the precautions should be explained to the relatives of the victims of Covid-19 by the administration as well as local politicians, according to Dr Avinash Bhondawe, president of Indian Medical Association (IMA) Maharashtra.
“This is tragic and sad. This is the fault of the administration. But it cannot be denied that all government officials are overloaded with work. The management of ambulances and funeral services should also be made online just like bed availability. Maybe an application can be built for this purpose. If the relatives of the patients are not ready to come forward, it is because they are scared. When relatives are scared of taking care of the dead, the hospitals are in trouble in such cases. The procedure is explained without the law; it should be done without high-handedness. I think these public leaders, corporators, MPs should take bold steps regarding raising awareness about these things. There are guidelines but they should be more practical. The rules should be more human,” said Dr Bhondawe.
The body was finally taken by a team of PMC officials from Sassoon General Hospital around 7pm on Tuesday and cremated. The relatives continue to remain untraceable.
“If the body is kept wrapped using proper precaution as per ICMR guidelines and in a body bag, I do not see why this should be an issue. Nobody should be in contact with the body, is the point. The face, hands or any part should not be touched. I do not see why that should be an issue,” said Dr Abhijit More, co-convenor of the Jan Arogya Abhiyaan.
