Locals protest burial of 75-year-old COVID-19 patient in Mangaluru

The district administration on Thursday night had a tough time during the cremation of a 75-year-old woman who died of coronavirus, amid protest by local residents.

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The authorities had arranged the cremation at Pacchanady crematorium. However, the locals opposed it and MLA Dr Y Bharath Shetty said that the issue of cremation at Pacchanady was not brought to his notice. He said without the consent of the local residents, the body should not be cremated at Pacchanady.

The residents at Moodushedde too gathered near the crematorium in Moodushedde and opposed any move to cremate the body there.

MLA Umanath Kotian said that the woman should be cremated at Bantwal and will not allow the cremation at Moodushedde at any cost.

Finally, the body was cremated at Kaikunje in Bantwal amid tight police security.

Later, MLA Bharath Shetty tweeted, "a few are trying to mislead people in the district that coronavirus spreads even after the death. It is scientifically proven that virus does not spread after the death of an infected person. Hence the cremation of the body will not do any harm to the people living in a neighborhood. The public should not panic. To ensure that law and order was not affected with the gathering of a large number of people at Pacchanady, the body of the deceased woman was not cremated there. None should mislead people."