Amid deaths, all roads lead to Allahabad for villagers in MP
For ordinary folks in remote rural pockets of Madhya Pradesh, their last rites in the ‘Sangam Kshetra,’ considered a holy cremation site for Hindus, in the pilgrim city of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, is a dream only for the sake of dreaming.
The cost of their final journey to the place is too prohibitive to bear by their families who find it hard even to make ends meet.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has scripted an unlikely final journey to Sangam Kshetra for some suspected Covid victims in remote rural pockets of MP as they were denied cremation in their village facility. The body of an 80-year-old man, a suspected Covid victim in the village of Patna
THE COST of deceased person’s final journey to the place is too prohibitive to bear by their families who find it hard even to make ends meet.
THE BODY of an 80year-old man, a suspected Covid victim in the village of Patna Tamoli in Panna district in MP, was carried in a private hearse to Sangam Kshetra for cremation
Tamoli in Panna district in Madhya Pradesh, was carried in a private hearse to Sangam Kshetra for cremation on Friday.
“The deceased, a retired teacher, had been suffering from fever and cold for some days. He passed away late on Thursday night. His family members had no option but to carry the body to Sangam Kshetra for cremation due to unwritten restrictions imposed on the cremation of suspected Covid victims in the village facility,” Ramdin Singh, a social activist of Patna Tamoli, told this newspaper on Saturday.
A fortnight ago, another retired teacher in the village died of suspected Covid and was carried in a private hearse to Sangam Kshetra for cremation, he said.
Similar incidents have been reported in the villages of Chijora, Seemaraha, Mo hai, and Kangali in the district in the last eight months.
Hanuman Panda, a priest in Allahabad who performs the last rites of the deceased, told this newspaper that there is a separate crematorium for Covid victims at Phapamau in Allahabad.