‘300 attended funeral of COVID-19 positive man’

The businessman died in a Chennai government hospital and his body was taken to Ramnad

06/04/2020, L SRIKRISHNA,MADURAI

The body of a 71-year-old businessman, who died in Stanley Medical College in Chennai on April 2 and subsequently confirmed to have tested COVID-19 positive, has been shifted to his native Kilakarai in Ramanathapuram district and buried.

What is of concern, however, is police inquiry showing that at least 300 people, including his relatives and a local AIADMK MLA, participated in the burial rituals.

The businessman returned from Dubai on March 16 and stayed at Mannadi in Chennai. As he experienced breathing difficulty, he was admitted to Stanley Medical College at 9 a.m. on April 2, where died within two hours.

His body was shifted in an ambulance the same day. On April 3, he was buried at Old Jumma Mosque. The next day, a report confirmed that he had tested positive to COVID-19.

Sources claimed that his body was shifted at least thrice from one ambulance to another during the journey from Chennai to Kilakarai, which were all government-operated free hearse services. While the first ambulance was arranged by Stanley Medical College officials, the other two were arranged by local authorities.

An officer privy to the investigation said the body was first shifted at Ulundurpet, then at Pudukottai and finally at Kilakarai.

“In the shifting process, the packing of the body had been disturbed badly,” he said.

Before the burial was conducted, the body was opened and given a wash, among other routine procedures. The son of the deceased was said to have travelled in the ambulance van.

As per health ministry guidelines, the entire place of worship, house and the street where the body was carried was disinfected on Sunday morning. Also, disinfection was done in the entire town with total shutdown. All contacts were under quarantine, officials added.