RAMESWARAM: In a shocking incident, workers of the Rameswaram Municipality transported the body of a deceased woman in a garbage truck to the hospital here, on Thursday. The deceased has been identified as Ramamani (54), a resident Odisha who had come here to the Ramanathaswamy temple for a holy bath here on the occasion of Amavasya.
Ramamani was hit by a water lorry near the temple when she was returning to the temple premises after taking a holy bath in the Agnitheertham seashore. She died on the spot. Two vehicles were also damaged in the accident.
Instead of arranging for a hearse to transport the body, the police asked the municipality workers to bring it to the government hospital. The workers transported the body in a garbage truck belonging to the municipality.
The police are on the lookout for the driver of the water lorry who escaped from the spot after the incident. It may be noted that even after the High Court had banned the use of ground water for commercial purpose, water lorries are continuously selling ground water to private lodges and companies. Residents of nine villages in the island had protested on Wednesday against the sale of ground water.
Another related problem is that the State has provided only two vehicles to the whole district under the Free Hearse Service.