The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) on Friday criticised Mangaluru City North MLA Y. Bharat Shetty stating that he did not allow the cremation of the body of the 75-year-old woman who died due to COVID-19 in the city on Thursday.
The woman from Bantwal had died at the Government Wenlock Hospital and the district administration had decided to conduct the last rites at a crematorium in Pachchanady in the city.
In a statement on Friday, Muneer Katipalla, president of Karnataka unit of the DYFI, said that the MLA, being a doctor, backed a group of people who were opposing the cremation at Pachchanady on Thursday night. The MLA should have convinced the people and taken the lead in arranging for the cremation. But he did not do it, Mr. Katipalla said adding that Dr. Shetty should apologise.
Mr. Katipalla said that the MLA has ‘humiliated’ the family of the deceased woman and his action might prompt people in other places to do the same. “It is not the way how an MLA should conduct himself during the time of crisis.”