Locals oppose bid to cremate doc

Defy Curfew In Ambattur & Tiruverkadu

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:14.04.2020

Defying lockdown protocol, residents in Ambattur and Tiruverkadu protested against the cremation of a 56-year-old doctor from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh who died on Sunday night at a private hospital in Vanagaram where he was being treated for Covid-19.

As news of the possible cremation spread, a group of people protested in Tiruverkadu, fearing that it might lead to spread of the virus, said Tiruverkadu municipal commissioner S Senthil Kumaran.

The incident has received a sharp response from the medical fraternity, who have expressed displeasure at the events. “If your jawans die in a war, is this the way you treat them. Doctors are frontline workers who pledge their lives to save people. It is unfortunate that the dead did not get dignity,” said Dr V Ramasubramanian, senior consultant at the department of infectious diseases, Apollo Hospitals.

While the hospital in which the doctor died falls under Tiruverkadu municipality limits, the hospital staff had taken the body to the crematorium in Ambattur, under Greater Chennai Corporation limits after protests in Tiruverkadu, according to police. The doctor was an orthopaedic surgeon and was admitted to the private hospital in Vanagaram last week after he was tested positive for Covid-19.

“He was on ventilator support on Sunday. He died without responding to treatment at 4.30 am on Monday,” said a hospital source.

On Monday afternoon, as the staff wearing overalls and protective equipment were preparing to cremate the doctor’s body at the burial ground and crematorium in Ambattur, word spread among the locals causing panic, said a civic official in Ambattur. Locals expressed concern that cremating the body of a covid-19 death patient will spread the virus.

Incidentally, Ambattur Zone has zero Covid-19 positive cases in the city thus far.

“We tried to convince them that there is no reason to panic. But, within minutes, the number of people who gathered increased and the hospital staff took the body away to avoid tension,” said a civic official.

Police said that the 56-year-old is a native of Pogathita near Nellore. Reports said that the doctor had inaugurated a new clinic in his hometown just two weeks ago, on March 29, which was well attended by the medical fraternity there and local politicians State health secretary, Dr Beela Rajesh said that there was a lack of coordination. “We have given clear instructions as to how a body should be disposed. There was a coordination gap. It will be sorted out,” the health secretary said.

After more than seven hours of dilly-dallying, the doctor was finally cremated at 10pm at the Porur electric crematorium.

The 56-year-old doctor from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh died on Sunday night at a private hospital in Vanagaram where he was undergoing treatment for Covid-19