Two Days After Daughter’s Death, Odisha Home Guard Joins Lockdown Duty

Bhubaneswar: Gauri Behera, a home guard at Pipli police station in Puri, lost her 13-year-old daughter to liver cancer on April 24. However, the 43-year-old woman left her grief behind and joined the lockdown duty two days later on April 26.

Gauri, who stays with her aged parents and a mentally-challenged younger brother, was on duty on April 24 evening when she received a call about her daughter Lopamudra’s worsening health condition. She immediately cycled back home, but her daughter had died by then.

“My husband ditched me several years ago. I have to work to earn our livelihood. I urge the government to provide me financial help,” Gauri was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Her sense of duty was applauded by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who took to Twitter on Saturday to express his condolence and praise her for being “a true frontline warrior”.

Gauri joined home guard, an auxiliary force in Odisha police, in 1998.