A man who died of AIDS recently, in a remote coastal Orissa village, was buried and not cremated as per Hindu rites, owing to apprehensions of villagers that the virus would spread through the smoke.
The incident reportedly occurred in the coastal Kendrapara district.
A report from the local press stated that villagers did not allow for the cremation of the body of a 54-year-old man suffering from AIDS who died last Friday. The dead body was buried, with the villagers maintaining a safe distance from the spot.
The incident has once again brought to the fore the lack of information and awareness among the common masses, particularly in rural areas, about the AIDS virus. It also reflects poorly, on the AIDS awareness campaigns launched by the government and non-governmental agencies across the country. The local police, however, said they were unaware of the incident.
“This is a vast area. We are certainly not aware of such an incident,” said S K Akbar Ali, the officer-in-charge (OIC) of Rajnagar police station under whose jurisdiction the incident was reported to have taken place.