Rerun of Ballari in Yadgir as health staff fail to walk the talk

A video of the district health department staff dragging the body of a Covid-19 victim and dumping it into a pit for burial went viral on Wednesday.

This comes close on the heels of a similar incident in Ballari recently, where bodies of Covid victims were thrown into a pit before the burial. It had caused widespread outrage among the people.

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The 45-year-old victim had conducted his daughter's marriage at Sirawara in Raichur district on Sunday. The man developed breathlessness on his way back to his native place Honagera in Yadgir taluk on Monday and later died. Results of his throat swab samples, collected after his death, returned positive for Covid.

The video clip showed two staff of the health department dragging the body of the deceased after tying it to a wooden pole in a field at Honagera village to dump it in a pit. As the field is a little faraway from the road, the staff are seen dragging the body and taking a break on the way. The body was dumped in the pit and someone is seen instructing the staff to leave the pole in the pit itself.

They throw the PPE, masks and gloves into the pit, which was then filled with mud with the help of an earthmover.

The body was kept at the mortuary of the district hospital for a while, as the residents had opposed performing the last rites at the village burial ground. It was later taken to the field owned by the deceased for the last rites. Only his younger brother was present on the occasion as the victim's wife, children and relatives have been kept in isolation.

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Additional Deputy Commissioner Prakash G Rajaput said that the matter would be looked into and details would be sought from the health department.

6 suspended over Ballari incident

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday said the government would ensure that Ballari-like incidents would not recur, reports DHNS from Bengaluru.

"Already action has been taken. We're going to take steps to ensure such a thing does not happen again," he told reporters.

Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said six people involved in the Ballari incident were suspended on Wednesday morning. "On Tuesday, we had a video conference with the Ballari deputy commissioner, who has tendered an unconditional apology," he said.