Maharashtra, the worst coronavirus-affected state, registered 2,682 new cases on Friday (File)
Mumbai:
A Mumbai man who was fighting COVID-19 in a hospital died earlier this month and was cremated by authorities. Four days later, when his family – quarantined due to his exposure – visited him, they were shocked with their lives – he was dead, his body wasted – all without their knowledge.
Rakesh Varma, a resident of Barkatalinagar in the Wadala region of Mumbai, died on May 17. He was cremated by local officials. His family say they did not know he was dead. They filed a complaint in this regard.
“I want justice. How can I accept that my son died without seeing the body?” Ananda Varma, the man’s mother, told GalacticGaming.
Rakesh Varma’s wife, Subhashini Varma, said: “They kept saying that he was receiving oxygen and that he was being treated. When we went to the police station, we were informed that ‘He died on May 17. “
His close relatives were in quarantine. They could not meet him until May 21 at the end. A nurse told them that the man’s body had been thrown away by the police because no one had come to claim it.
“We went to the Jogeshwari trauma center and the nurse told us that the body had been listed as unclaimed. She asked us to inquire at the Wadala police station,” Anwar Teje told GalacticGaming, friend of Rakesh Varma.
Police said they were investigating the forfeiture. “The family has filed a complaint and we are investigating,” said a senior officer.
In recent days, the Brihanmumbai Corporation, the civic body of Mumbai, has been criticized for not being able to quickly move the bodies of Covid-19 neighborhoods. The BMC had explained that several bodies were not claimed because their families were in quarantine.
Maharashtra, the worst coronavirus affected state, recorded 2,682 new cases on Friday, as well as 116 deaths – the largest one-day increase in deaths since the start of the pandemic. The total number of cases was 62,228 and the deaths were 2,098. Mumbai alone has more than 36,932 cases and 1,173 deaths.
