VIJAYAWADA: In a humane gesture, Nagayalanka police on Monday performed the last rites of a 62-year-old woman, whose son died of Covid-19 three days ago. The woman, identified as Hymavathi, was reportedly depressed over her son’s death and died by suicide on Sunday night at Nagayalanka village. Though the villagers alerted her family members, they distanced themselves from performing her last rites.
With no one from the family coming forward, villagers informed the matter to police, who decided to bid a dignified farewell to the deceased.
Sub-Inspector Challa Krishna and his team arrived at the village and performed the last rites of the woman.
Incidentally, it was the same police team which performed the last rites to the woman’s son who died of Covid-19 on Thursday.“As there was no one, including her close relatives, we shifted the body to the cremation ground. We performed the last rites of the woman by wearing PPE kits,” said the SP M Ravindranath Babu.
Nagayalanka SI Krishna said the social stigma and fear of contracting virus are haunting the family members of Covid-19 victims. He also said no one in the family came forward to perform the last rites of the son, who died of coronavirus, and later the woman. “In both the cases, the relatives remained mute spectators. Everyone deserves a dignified farewell and we tried to do our part,” SI Krishna told TNIE.