The Dakshina Kannada district administration had to face a hard time in conducting the last rites of the woman who died of COVID-19 in Mangaluru on Thursday as some people opposed the cremation planned at a crematorium in the city. Finally she was cremated in her native place Bantwal early on Friday.
The 75-year-old woman from Bantwal who died at the Government Wenlock Hospital (also COVID hospital) in Mangaluru was undergoing treatment for stroke at a private hospital in the city before being shifted to the Wenlock Hospital. She was a relative of the 50-year-old woman, also from Bantwal, who died due to COVID-19 and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) at the COVID hospital on April 19.
Police said that the district administration had planned the cremation of the 75-year-old woman at a crematorium in Pachchanady in Mangaluru city. But a large number of people who learnt about it in advance gathered there to oppose it and to urge the administration to shift the body to Bantwal. Mangaluru City North MLA Y. Bharath Shetty, who is also a doctor, went to the spot and asked the police not to shift the body to Pachchanady as the residents were charged up.
Police said that groups of people had gathered at Bolar crematorium and a few other crematoria in the city police commissionerate limits to oppose the cremation. Later the district administration decided to shift the body to Bantwal.
In a tweet on Thursday night Mr. Shetty said: “Cremation with fire is accepted method to dispose dead body of patient with COVID19 +ve case. However, 1000s of people including women gathered in Pachchanady who were in panic with rumours and reluctant to move. In order to protect law and order, we had to change plans.”
Police said that after the body in the mortuary was placed in an ambulance at midnight its driver learnt that the many people have gathered in the crematorium at Bantwal. After driving the ambulance for a few metres, he suddenly abandoned the vehicle. He was counselled and sent to Bantwal along with a police force. The last rites were performed in Bantwal at about 2 a.m. on Friday.
“People had gathered there (in Bantwal) too. We managed to convince them and send them away before performing the last rights,” Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police B. M. Laxmi Prasad said on Friday.
Earlier on Sunday when the body of the first COVID victim (the 50-year-old woman) was to be cremated at Bolar, police had to face resistance from locals. They even damaged some vehicles that were part of the convoy leading the ambulance shifing the body to Bolar.
Mangaluru City South MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath, Commissioner of Police P.S. Harsha and other officers took time to convince people to allow the cremation.
“The resistance is due to lack of awareness among people that burial or cremation of COVID-19 positive person will not spread the disease. The guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Union government have made it clear. Steps need to be taken to clear the misconceptions,” senior physician in the city Srinivas Kakkilaya told The Hindu.