In a revelation that came with disturbing visuals, several dead bodies which were almost decomposed and bloated were found piled up near the bank of river Ganga. These dead bodies were suspected to be of people who lost their lives due to COVID-19.
On social media, several videos of suspected COVID-19 victims’ dead bodies floating at the Mahadev ghat (bank) of the Ganga at Chausa village in Bihar have gone viral. These videos have sparked anger and have triggered sentiments in people. Officials who visited the site said there are chances that the bodies might have floated in from the near about districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
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Trigger warning- Disturbing visuals
Chausa is about 10 kilometres away from the HQ of the border district of Buxar, joining by eastern Uttar Pradesh. The villagers first spotted several bodies floating on the bank of the river on Monday morning and immediately informed local authorities.
A local resident, who lives in Chausa block in the district, said that-
“Even as the district administration has been claiming that these bodies have come from adjoining UP districts of Varanasi and Ghazipur with the flow of water in the river, still a few of the bodies were seen tied with bamboos, which indicate that people have come here and abandoned the bodies for fear COVID-19 infections.”
Chausa BDO Ashok Kumar after the inspection said that-
“We were alerted by the locals that many bodies have been spotted floating from streamline. We have so far recovered some of these. None of the deceased happens to be a resident of the district.”
Adding further to it he also said that-
“Many Uttar Pradesh districts are situated right across the river and the bodies may have been dumped in the Ganges for reasons not known to us. We cannot confirm whether the deceased were indeed COVID 19 positive. The bodies have started decomposing. But we are taking all precautions while ensuring that these are disposed of in a decent manner.”
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The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) KK Upadhyay said it is a matter of investigation to ascertain if these corpses come from Varanasi, Allahabad, or any other place. “We are alerting officials near ghat areas to make sure that it does not happen again.”
After this incident was reported many of the residents claimed that the cremation ground asked for a lot of money and in most of the cases the dead bodies were never handed to the family, which can also be a reason for people to dispose of the dead bodies in the flowing river.
