The situation in Uttar Pradesh is getting grimmer as tallies of Covid-19 cases and deaths continue to witness massive spike. Social media is flooded with heartwrenching stories of people who have become the victim of the unfolding humanitarian crisis. In yet another heartbreaking incident, a 70-year-old man from UP’s Jaunpur was compelled to carry the body of his wife, who died due to Covid-19, on a bicycle for hours in search of a place to cremate her. Shockingly, no villager or relative offered any help fearing they might contract the deadly virus
One of the photos being circulated in social media shows an elderly, bearded man carrying the body of a woman on a bicycle. Another shows the man sitting on the roadside to rest while the body of the woman lies on the road along with the bicycle. Locals of the village in Jaunpur did not allow the funeral of the woman fearing coronavirus. Later, the police finally arranged for her cremation at a separate location.
The man in the photo, the police said, is 70-year-old Tilakdhari, a resident of Amberpur village in Jaunpur — 275 km from state capital Lucknow. His wife had died of Covid at a government hospital. Police said Tilakdhari’s wife died due to Covid-19 at the district hospital on Apr 26, and her body was sent to his village in an ambulance.
“But the villagers including the elders refused to help him perform the last rites fearing they might also contract the virus,” SHO Madiahun Munna Lal Dhusia told PTI.
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“After no one came to help, the old man decided keep his wife’s body on his cycle and go for her cremation. However, it was not possible for him to carry the body on a cycle and he kept losing his balance,” the SHO said.
He said the police helped him after coming to know about the incident. Police personnel reached there with an ambulance and material required for conducting the last rites and took the body to Ramghat where the cremation was performed, he said.
