Coronavirus Update- Thousands Protest Patient’s Burial In Ranchi

It turned into a law and order problem in Ranchi on Sunday when thousands of Muslim men and women defied the lockdown curbs in Bariyatu and Ratu Road areas and protested against the district administration to arra nge for the burial of a 60-year-old member, who died of the virus at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences.

Dr DK Singh, the RIMS superintendent, said the Coronavirus patient, who had contracted the infection from wife, was undergoing treatment here. His body was handed to the administration after sanitisation and in an air-tight plastic bag.

There was no apprehension of contamination, he said. The administration took the body for the burial at Bariyatu, where local Muslims opposed the entry of the van, carrying the corp se into the graveyard. Police took it to another graveyard, where too it faced resistance. The van was taken to another burial ground at Ratu Road, 4 kms from Bariyatu.

Thousands of people assembled near the burial ground. Women squatted on all the four entrances. Senior police and civil officers reached the spot and tried to pacify them. They told the Ranchi SP burial of the Corona dead would cause harm to localites.

As tension moun ted, fresh enforcement was sent in, but the locals continued with resistance, saying the dead was from the Hindpeedhi hotspot. The crowd dispersed when the City SP agreed not to bury the body there. City SP Ajit Dungdung said the administration would arra n - ge for burial outside Ranchi.