Kin refuse to perform funeral of COVID-19 victim, body kept outside house

Sangareddy (Telangana), August 13

Two members of a family died in the space of a few hours with the body of a 35-year old COVID-19 victim kept outside the house as their kin allegedly refused to perform the funeral out of fear in a town in this district on Thursday, police said.

Finally, police, municipal and other officials took the initiative and laid to rest the two.

The man, who along with seven other members of the big joint family had tested positive for coronavirus and advised home isolation, succumbed on Wednesday night while a 65-year old woman died on Thursday, police said, adding she had not been tested for the pathogen earlier.

The body of the man was kept outside the house for several hours.

Police reached the house on Thursday morning after being alerted by some neighbours and asked the family members to perform the funeral of the deceased.

They, however, allegedly did not come forward and the police, municipal and other government personnel buried the bodies, police said.

The six other family members, who have tested positive for COVID-19, continued to remain under home isolation as their health condition did not require hospitalisation, they added. PTI