IT Correspondent
Mumbai, May 17 :
Three members of a family have been booked by the Ulhasnagar police (Thane district, Maharashtra) for organising an elaborate funeral for a 59-year-old suspected patient residing at Khanna Compound, about 43 kms from Mumbai city, in violation of COVID-19 protocol, early this week.
The police have registered an office against the deceased’s two sons and his brother, under section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and provisions of the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897. The offence was registered based on a complaint by Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation commissioner Dr Sudhakar Deshmukh wrote to the Central Police station.
Of the 70 people who attended the funeral, 9 have now tested positive and the rest have been quarantined. The deceased was admitted to the Central Hospital in Ulhasnagar for suspected coronavirus. His test report came positive after his death. After his death family allegedly pressurised the hospital and even gave in writing that they would follow all norms and adhere to the specified protocols for a COVID-19 patient, if they were handed over the body.
As per the norms, the body is wrapped in a plastic sheet and the final rites are to be performed at the nearest cremation site. The plastic covering on the body should not be removed. Not more than 5 people are allowed at the cremation site. But the family defied this and gave the body a final bath as per their rituals.
The deceased’s test report came positive after his death. Of the 70 people who attended the funeral, 9 have now tested positive. The rest have been quarantined. “We have booked three people who gave the undertaking to the municipal corporation,” said Senior Inspector Sudhakar Suradkar of the Central Police station said.
The similar incident had occurred when relatives of an aged deceased woman violated COVID-19 protocol and held the pubic funeral two days back in Ulhasnagar. The Assistant Municipal Commissioner Bhagwan Kumawat has reportedly lodged a complaint with police about this incident.