Miscommunication leads son to perform funeral rituals for mother before her death

Hubballi: A wrongly delivered message resulted in the son of a woman, confirmed infected with Covid-19, performing, on July 28, the funeral rituals of his mother, two days before she eventually breathed her last. The 70-year-old woman from Naregal in Gajendragad taluk in Gadag, had been confirmed infected with the pandemic on July 15, and admitted to GIMS on July 18.
Her son alleged that his mother had not been given requisite attention and the proper treatment that she was entitled to. “I was denied permission to visit her, and on July20, I was informed that she was no more. I was shattered and returned to Naregal. On July 28, I performed the ‘thithi shradh’ thinking she had passed away. On July 30, two days after the rituals were performed, I received a call from the local authorities stating that my mother had died that day,” he said.
Understandably shocked, he informed the authorities, who informed the son that they would bring the mortal remains of his mother to Naregal, that she had passed away on July 20. Lashing out at the district administration for failing to provide accurate information, he asked, “Why was I informed by GIMS staff that my mother had passed away on July 20?”
Furthermore, he alleged that the body that the authorities had brought to Naregal was not his mother’s.
Gajendragad tahsildar Ashok Kalghatgi, however, denied the charges levelled at the local authorities. Affirming that there was no lapse on the part of the government officials, Kalghatgi told STOI, “We do not know who informed him about his mother’s demise before we confirmed it officially. The patient passed away on July 30, and her son was intimated on the same day. The funeral rituals were performed in accordance with her traditional practices, and the prescribed standard operating procedure.”