The incident in which the family of a deceased COVID patient was demanded ten thousand rupees in bribe to release the body and made to vacillate for two days has drawn criticism from several sections.
Manikandan, who works as a sanitation worker in Shanthi Nagar, Erode, admitted his father Palanisamy, a retired Court employee, to the Government Care Center set up at a private college in Perundurai after suffering from COVID-19. Palanisamy succumbed to covid a few days ago. Manikandan, who went to receive his father’s body, was shocked when he was asked to pay ₹10000 as a bribe for releasing the body.
When he refused to pay a bribe of Rs 10,000, he was made to go from pillar to post in order to get documentation that would allow his father’s body to be released.
When Manikandan learned that the government care center would be unable to offer an ambulance, he hired a private ambulance which demanded ₹8000 for wrapping the body in plastic and ₹7500 for ambulance services. To add to his grief, Manikandan added that Aathma, the corporation’s electric cremation facility, charged ₹9000 to cremate his father’s remains.
இறந்தவர் உடலை வழங்க லஞ்சம் – அதிகாரிகள் மீது திடுக்கிடும் புகார் #NewsJ | #corona | #Bribery | #death | #NewsUpdates | https://t.co/DMhy72SUPr
— NewsJ (@NewsJTamil) May 31, 2021
Social activists question the government’s plans to address the plight of the families of deceased COVID patients, from whom money is being extorted at these difficult times.
(with inputs from NewsJ)
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