KASARAGOD: The Kerala government has refused to record the death of B A Abdul Rahman, 55, a native of Mogral Putthur, as a Covid-related fatality. Rahman, a resident of Hubballi in Karnataka, travelled for eight hours in an ambulance and reached the border town Thalappady around 3.30am on Tuesday.His relatives shifted him to a taxicab and were driving home when his condition worsened and they took him to the General Hospital in Kasaragod.
The hospital declared him dead on arrival. But when swab from the body was tested, it was found to be Covid-19 positive.Taking the cover of technicality, District Collector D Sajith Babu said the death could not be accounted for in Kerala’s death toll because “he died in transit”. “How can it be included in Kerala’s statistics? He died in transit. Moreover, he is not a Kasaragod resident,” he said.
Sajith Babu said Rahman’s permanent address was in Hubballi where he was doing business for the past 20 years. Seven years is enough to change the permanent residency, he said. When told that he died in Kasaragod, the collector said that the General Hospital declared Rahman dead on arrival. When pointed out that Rahman was alive when he entered Kasaragod, the collector said: “That I don’t know.” To be sure, Rahman’s temperature was recorded at Thalappady before he entered Kasaragod, and the district surveillance officer Dr A T Manoj said the temperature was normal.
Dr Manoj said Rahman was a heart patient and had undergone angioplasty. Health officials suspect Rahman could have died of a cardiac arrest.“Rahman was born and brought up in Mogral Putthur and he died here. If we don’t record his death, who else will,” said Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikkunnu. “Are we trying to hide the death to maintain the reputation of a district with zero Covid?” he said.
To be sure, 549 persons were tested positive for Covid in Kasaragod and no deaths were reported till Rahman died. A similar tug-of-war happened when 71-year-old P Mehroof, a Mahe native, died of Covid in Pariyaram medical college on April 11. It was Kannur district’s first Covid fatality but the Kerala government refused to record the death saying he was a native of Mahe.
Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan said if Abdul Rahman died in the district and he was found to be Covid-19 positive, his death should be recorded here. “I will check with the DMO,” he said.