COVID-19 Scare: Villagers Turn Hostile After Woman Dies During Child Birth In Balasore

Balasore: The Bar Association of Soro in Odisha’s Balasore district won praises for its humanitarian act amid COVID-19 scare. The members helped to cremate a woman, who died during child birth and was denied a respectful farewell by the villagers on the suspicion that the virus could have caused her death.

According to sources, Sunita Baske, wife of Rama Chandra Hansda of Ekatali village, was a treasury officer in Udala. She has been on maternity leave and staying with her husband in Soro.

On Monday, Sunita was admitted to Mishra Nursing Home after she had a labour pain. However, she died after delivering a baby boy.

After the death of his wife, Hansda lodged a complaint in Soro Police Station against the nursing home alleging negligence. Police rushed to the nursing home and handed over the body to the family members after the postmortem.

As the family was on the way to the village to cremate the body, the villagers, suspecting them of having contracted the infection, prevented them from cremating the body and even threatened to ostracize them.

After coming to know about the incident, the lawyers of the Soro Bar Association took the body and cremated it behind the treasury office.