COVID+ve Man’s Body Carried On Trolley Rickshaw For Cremation In Odisha’s Ganjam

Berhampur: In an instance of negligence towards COVID-19 victims in the district, family members of a deceased person of Patrapur were seen carrying the body in a trolley rickshaw on Wednesday.

Chandra Sekhar Mahanty (55) of Ganjam’s Patrapur died of COVID-19 in  the Community Health Centre (CHC) where he was undergoing treatment for the last few days.

After his death, his son and nephew requested for an ambulance to carry the body for cremation but no help came forth. “No ambulance or ‘Mahaprayan’ was provided to us though we approached the CHC authority,” said Mahanty’s nephew Dinabandhu.

“Even the staff of the CHC were unwilling to help us in bringing the body from the bed,” said Dinabandhu, a Class X student.

After their requests went unheard, Mahanty’s son, Dinabandhu and  his sister shifted the body from hospital bed to a trolley rickshaw which they managed to arrange and took it for cremation.

While Dinabandhu rode the rickshaw, Mahanty’s son and niece pushed it from behind to the crematorium.

Some NGO activists reached the crematorium few minutes later and helped in performing the last rites, said Dinabandhu.