UP family dumps COVID victim's body in Rapti river; video goes viral, sparks row [watch]

Close to the heels of floating of a large number of bodies of suspected COVID patients on the banks of the river Ganga, another video has gone viral on social media in which some persons, one of them in a PPE kit, are seen throwing the body in a river in Uttar Pradesh.

A political row erupted within minutes after the video has gone viral as Uttar Pradesh Congress seized this opportunity to attack Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"Shameful: This is video has exposed the worst condition of the health department. People in PPE kit openly throwing body in the river Rapti in Balarampur. Now Yogi Adityanath will depute his team to prove it fake", Uttar Pradesh Congress quickly tweeted.

Two men throw the body of in river

In the viral video two men,  one of them wearing a PPE kit, are seen throwing body of a coronavirus victim into river Rapti in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district. It appears that the video was shot by some people who were driving by the spot.

Based on the viral video, Balrampur Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Vijay Bahadur Singh said that the deceased person's identity has been established as Prem Nath Mishra, a resident of Sohratgarh in UP's Siddharth Nagar district.

"Prem Nath Mishra was hospitalized on May 25 after he contracted COVID-19 and succumbed to the disease on May 28. The body was handed over to family members as per the COVID-19 protocol. In the video, which went viral on social media, it can be seen that the body was thrown into the Rapti river", CMO posted on social media.

Case registered after video goes viral

As per media reports, Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district authorities have booked a relative deceased who dumped his body in a river after he died earlier week.

Quoting officers, media reports said that authorities have initiated an investigation after a video of the body being thrown in the river surfaced.

Earlier videos of floating bodies go viral

Earlier videos of several bodies of suspected COVID victims floating in the river Ganga have gone viral on social media, sparking outrage and shock. The villagers first spotted several bodies floating along the bank of the river and informed local authorities.