No aid from neighbours, girl lights Covid patient’s pyre with cops’ help

THE POLICE HELPED TAKE THE PATIENT TO HOSPITAL AND WHEN HE DIED, TO CREMATORIUM

NOIDA (UP) : A 15-year-old girl lit the funeral pyre of her 52-yearold father, who passed away battling Covid-19 in Noida, with support from policemen who made arrangements for the cremation after the locals refused to help the teenager and her mother.

The financially-weak family hailed from West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. The deceased, along with his wife and daughter, stayed in Noida Sector 19, where he worked as the caretaker of a house. The owners of the house do not live here.

The police rushed to the aid of the family on Monday night, helping them arrange an ambulance to ferry the man to the district hospital in Sector 31, where he succumbed, and then to the crematorium in Sector 94 on Tuesday, according to officials. “Since the man was a Covid-19 patient, there was no help for the girl and her mother, who were left to fend for themselves as no one from the neighbourhood came forward to support them with hospitalisation when his condition turned critical or for the cremation,” local police post in-charge Hari Singh said.

When the man’s condition deteriorated on Monday, his daughter sought help but none came from the locals, after which she went out of the house frantically searching for assistance. Around 9 pm, she came across a vehicle of the UP Police’s emergency 112 service on the road and asked for help. The officials in the vehicle relayed the message and the local police chowki personnel reached the house to help the family. “We also tried finding some help from the locals, but since it is a pandemic situation, no one came forward. Somehow, an ambulance was arranged and the man was rushed to the district hospital, but he could not be saved,” Singh said.