Chennai: In complete disregard of lockdown rules and social distancing norms, residents of Ambattur in Chennai staged a protest on Monday against the cremation of a 62-year-old doctor who was suspected to have died of coronavirus.
The incident happened when workers of Apollo Hospital's multispecialty unit in Vanagaram brought the doctor's body to the Ambattur crematorium to perform his final rites.
The Andhra Pradesh-based doctor had admitted himself to the hospital few days ago after symptoms similar to COVID-19 begun surfacing. He died on Monday morning, said police sources.
The locals were worried that if the man had died of coronavirus, the cremation could lead to spreading of the deadly virus that has infected hundreds of people across the state.
Caught unawares, the hospital staff members took the body back to the hospital mortuary. The body is yet to be cremated. A Chennai civic body official said the Apollo hospital in Vanagaram is not in their jurisdiction and bodies need to be cremated in respective areas.
When asked about the incident, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh termed it a "sensitive issue" and said care would be taken for such cases in future and due procedure would be followed.
So far, Tamil Nadu has seen the second-largest number of coronavirus patients across the country with a total tally of 1,173 positive cases. The capital city of Chennai, alone, has over 200 cases.
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