Judge refuses to accept body after father dies of Covid-19

A sitting judge in Bihar’s lower court in the Siwan district refused to accept the body of his 75-year-old father after the latter, afflicted with coronavirus, passed away on Friday late night. The judge’s plea was that if he took the body to his home, there was a possibility of his other family members getting infected with Covid-19.

The judge’s father was admitted to Dedicated Covid Health Centre in Siwan after he tested positive for the virus. Eventually, his oxygen level too dipped. On Friday late night, he passed away.

“The judge was informed about his father’s death. But he refused to take the body of his father to his residence as he apprehended that other members of his family may get infected. He urged the hospital authorities that the district authorities should feel free to perform the last rites of his father,” a source in the Health Department said.

However, the body remained in the hospital for another 20 hours.

Eventually, on Saturday, the judge authorised a lawyer to collect the body on his behalf. “The body of judge’s father was handed over to the lawyer in the presence of SDO, Ram Babu Prasad and in-charge Civil Surgeon Dr MR Ranjan,” said the source.

Later, the district administration, with the assistance of social worker Srinivas Yadav, cremated the body on the banks of the Kandhwara river.