BHUBANESWAR: The coronavirus has not only infected the bodies of people but also, more disturbingly, gripped the minds and crippled humanity.
The worst was witnessed in Bhubaneswar, when a woman and her daughter were left on the road with the body of her husband, who died after being refused treatment by several private hospitals and then were not allowed to enter home by the landlord.
On Monday night, 61-year-old Rabindra Nayak, a retired employee in BSNL, fell sick at his house at Rasulgarh.
He was a diabetic and needed immediate medical help. His wife and daughter with much difficulty were able to arrange a vehicle but tragically were refused admission or even check-up at two private hospitals here.
“None of the hospitals was ready to admit my brother-in-law, who was struggling for life inside a hired cab. The moment my sister and niece revealed that they were coming from Rasulgarh (an area close to Bomikhal, the containment zone), they refused any help,” claimed brother-in-law of the deceased and retired Deputy Commissioner GST, Asit Mohan Nayak.
After being refused twice, the family was attended by a doctor at another hospital. But, it was too late by then. Rabindra was declared ‘brought dead’ at 2.40 am.
At this point, their grief and ordeal for the night hit another nightmarish phase. With her engineer son away for work at Parlakhemundi, the traumatised mother and daughter headed for their rented house near Basudeb Nagar.
When they reached the locality, the landlord allegedly did not allow them to enter the four-storeyed building, a portion of which they have taken on rent.
They spent the whole night with the body on the road, waiting for the dawn to break and the son to arrive. The body was finally taken to the Satyanagar crematorium in the morning and the funeral rites were conducted by the daughter in the absence of the son.
After such a traumatic experience, the mother and daughter have left for their native village.