Karnataka: Family members conduct last rites, left to pick up the pieces

MYSURU: Hours after the 23 Covid-19 patients were declared dead at Chamarajanagar Covid hospital on Monday, family members took possession of the bodies of their loved ones and performed the last rites by the afternoon.
District police said none of them either approached the cops to have a case registered or opposed taking the bodies back. Divya Sara Thomas, Chamarajanagar superintendent of police, said there was no untoward law and order incident in the district and all was peaceful. The last rites were conducted in the respective villages of the dead under strict Covid-19 protocols.
Thomas said, “We have been coordinating with the district administration following the tragedy and helping families with transportation of bodies. Bodies of about 21 people who died in the past 24 hours were handed over to their family members and were transported in ambulances from the hospital campus to their villages.”
PFI volunteers lend a hand with funerals
Youths associated with the Popular Front of India on Monday performed the last rites of 18 persons who died in the Chamarajanagar hospital. They did it as per protocol with safety measures like wearing PPE kits, masks, gloves. Batches of five members each in different teams worked from 8am till 2pm in their respective villages.
“We enlisted additional volunteers and did the last rites as per directions of the authorities and relatives of the deceased,” said PFI activist Shoyab. A pall of gloom descended on the campus as relatives, family members and friends of the deceased landed there. aAnother volunteer Kafeel Ahammed said most of the dead were between 22 and 40 years. TNN