Shocking video of dumped body emerges
A disturbing video depicting two men throwing the body of a COVID-19 patient over a bridge in India has emerged on social media.
One man, dressed in full PPE, is helped by another to dump the body into Rapti River in Uttar Pradesh.
The patient, identified as Premnath, was admitted to hospital and tested positive to COVID-19 on May 25 before passing away three days later.
His body was returned to relatives for a final cremation, but Balrampur’s Chief Medical Officer said two family members dumped the body instead.
After the video surfaced on social media, police arrested the two family members involved.
U.P: BODY OF A COVID PATIENT THROWN IN RIVER
2 men are seen tinkering the body placed on the edge of a bridge over river Rapti. Patient was admitted to hospital on May 25 & died three days later. The body was handed over to his relatives who dumped it in the river. @AlokReporter pic.twitter.com/3e0MfqT8yj— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) May 30, 2021
The incident comes several weeks after bodies were reportedly found washing up in rivers in India as the country battles the virus.
Earlier this month, officials told the BBC about 40 bodies washed up on the banks of the Ganges river in the country’s north.
Local official Ashock Kumar said many believed the bodies had washed up from nearby Uttar Pradesh.
The bodies, some of which were found partially burned, were also believed to have potentially washed down the river from riverside cremations, NDTV reported
Further suggestions that some families were running out of money or wood have also emerged, and had been left with little choice but to place their loved ones in the river.
Locals have claimed the act “is the height of insensitivity”, with resident Kameshwar Pandey telling AFP the find was “really shocking”.
Image credit: Twitter