This story is from April 16, 2020

Jhargram teen cremated in Kol amid corona fears

Jhargram teen cremated in Kol amid corona fears
Belpahari (Jhargram): A tribal woman’s attempt to cremate her 13-year-old daughter forced her to travel 200km from a Kolkata hospital to her Belpahari village and then return to Kolkata on Wednesday morning to perform the last rites.
Residents of tribal-inhabited Purnapani in Belpahari put up stiff resistance on Tuesday night and refused to allow the cremation there amid Covid-19 rumours.
Local police helped Fulmoni Sabar, who worked at an ice factory in Andhra Pradesh’s Gannavaram, and her family bring the body to Kolkata, where Nandita Sabar’s last rites were performed at Keoratala crematorium.
Nandita and her elder sister Sunita (15) lived at an ashram hostel in Bishnupur, South 24 Parganas, and studied in the adjoining school. Down with fever, Nandita was taken to Chittaranjan National Medical College and Hospital on March 31 and died that night.
In Fulmoni’s absence (the children’s father had deserted them) and Sunita being a minor, the postmortem could not be conducted and the body was kept in the hospital morgue.
On hearing of Nandita’s death, Fulmoni contacted West Bengal Lodha Sabar Samaj whose working president Jharna Acharya called the Jhargram district authorities. The latter contacted their counterparts in Gannavaram. Fulmoni’s employer arranged a vehicle, which she boarded on Monday morning. She reached Kolkata — 1,200km away — on Tuesday and went straight to the hospital. After the post mortem and magisterial inquest. Fulmoni and Sunita left for Purnapani with the body in a hearse organised by the ashram hostel authorities.

Fulmoni said: “I was first informed that my daughter was down with fever. Later, I was told that she had passed away.”
At Purnapani late on Tuesday, locals refused to let Fulmoni cremate Nandita at the burning ghat, fearing the girl may be a Covid-19 victim. Fulmoni went to Belpahari police station with the body. With police help, the body was brought back to the city and the girl was cremated at Keoratala.
The Jhargram administration made arrangements to keep Fulmoni and Sunita in quarantine at Belpahari hospital to allay locals’ fears.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA