24 hours since death due to Covid, Jharkhand man's family runs from village to village to find burial space 

RANCHI: After being denied land by his fellow villagers, 65-year-old Iklasus Lakra, who succumbed to Covid at Sadar Hospital in Gumla district on Sunday, is still awaiting his burial for the last 24 hours. 

Lakra's family has been wandering from one place to another to bury him, but they have been opposed by the villagers. Finally they decided to bring the dead body to the block office in Bishunpur and are requesting the local administration to intervene in the matter. 

After Lakra's death at 12 noon on Sunday, his body was first taken to the Mundar Dam that was landmarked for disposal of Covid victims. However, the villagers there stopped the family from burying Lakra there and took him to a nearby village Jehangutwa on the same day. They faced the locals' ire here too. 

Hoping to find burial space, they took the body further to Baheradhipa where the family again faced the villagers' wrath.

Tired from running pillar to post, they finally loaded the body on a tractor and parked it outside the block office. 

On Monday, the local administration swung into action and took the body two kilometres away to Cheda village where the locals again did not allow them to dispose it. The officials have now taken the body to Jori, which is the deceased person's native village. 

Lakra's family has alleged that the administration did not come forward to their help while they were wandering from village to village, and gave only PPE kits by the health department in the name of help.