A local woman social worker in Katra cremates body of an Assamese lady as local villages did not come forward apprehending her a Corona victim
By Bunty Mahajan
Katra: In this COVID-19 pandemic when everybody is worried about one’s own well being, a local social worker Ritu Thakur of Tan village near Katra on Tuesday cremated a lady from Assam who had died after prolonged illness.
Identified as Shoba Bahadur, the deceased’s husband Dhan Bahadur of Assam had been working at a local hotel in Katra for the past 15 years. The deceased was a housewife.
As the lady died after prolonged illness, no one from the village came forward to help carry the body to cremation ground in view of apprehensions that she may not be COVID positive.
When Ritu Kumari came to know about, she visited the deceased’s house and called doctors from local hospital for COVID test of the deceased. Dr Vijay Kumar after conducting the test declared the deceased as negative to COVID-19.
However, even thereafter, as no one from the village came forward to help carry the dead body to the cremation ground, Ritu Thakur decided to herself cremate the deceased. Seeing this, the landlord’s owner’s son in whose house deceased had been living also came forward and helped Ritu carry the body to the cremation ground in an ambulance.
However, at the cremation ground, the caretaker objected to the entry of female there, but following intervention by local SHO, Ritu cremated the body with all Hindu rites.