Elderly Man Cycles For Hours Carrying Dead Wife After Being Denied Crematorium Fearing Coronavirus

An elderly man in Uttar Pradesh, India, carried the body of his dead wife on a bicycle for hours in search of a place to cremate her.

The incident came to light after photos of the man resting on the roadside while his deceased wife and bicycle laid on the road, emerged on the internet.

Tilakdhari Singh, a resident of Jaunpur district, was forced to carry his wife’s body after the villagers prohibited him from cremating her in the village crematorium, as they feared coronavirus.

None of the villagers tried to help the man nor did anyone share his grief. The elderly man rode his bicycle for hours in search of a crematorium.

Rajakumari had a long ailing illness. On Monday, her condition started deteriorating, following which her husband rushed her to a nearby hospital.

She was pronounced dead at the hospital. The body was sent back to their home in an ambulance. However, the villagers did not mourn the woman’s death as they feared she died of coronavirus.

Singh decided to carry the body on his bicycle to another crematorium after the body started to decompose.

The administration, however, did not confirm whether the deceased woman had tested positive for Covid-19.

The helpless and tired man was spotted sitting on the roadside by some passersby who then alerted the police.

After hearing the man’s ordeal, the police helped him cremate the woman’s body in a public crematorium on the other side of the village.

The second wave of deadly coronavirus has wreaked havoc in India. The country is running short of Covid vaccines, medical oxygen, and also hospital beds.

As the number of fatalities is increasing day by day, authorities are converting public parks and parking lots into temporary crematoriums.

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanth on Sunday declared that the cremation of people dying due to coronavirus must be done free of cost.

However, the government seems to have forgotten to eradicate the stigma of misinformation and misbeliefs that are apparently more dangerous than the deadly virus.