The corpse of a 60-year old leprosy infected woman was dumped in the Subernarekha river at Baharagora in Jharkhand by her family after local residents refused to permit her burial under suspicion that she died due to the Wuhan Coronavirus. However, her test results came back negative. The body was initially dumped in a well but following objection from villagers, it was dumped in a river. The Baharagora Police recovered the body from the river on Thursday and it was later buried under police supervision.
Reportedly, it is the custom in Baharagora to bury leprosy patients. The deceased, identified as one Chanchala Nayak, was a resident of Mohanpur village in Patpur panchayat. After her death, samples were taken to the primary healthcare center. After the test results came back negative, the dead body was handed over to the family. But the villagers did not permit them to bury the corpse fearing infection.
Jamshedpur Rural SP Piyus Pandey said, “Family member, having no option left with them, dropped the body into a dry well located outside the village to get rid of it. But villagers again objected following which the body was finally thrown into a river near the village. When police were informed about the incident, it rushed to the village and recovered the dead body and got it buried under its supervision.” The body was buried near the river where it was recovered.
Coronavirus Cases in Jharkhand
Jharkhand currently has a total of 55 cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus including 8 recoveries and 3 deceased. The state has been combating a lack of cooperation from certain sections of the citizenry during the pandemic as well. Earlier, it was reported that residents of Hindpiri in Ranchi, which has emerged as a hotspot, spat at sanitation workers trying to disinfect the area. Prior to that, Jharkhand Police had raided a local Madarsa which had held more than 600 girls hostage violating lockdown orders.
