A Kumbh mela returnee, a school teacher, passed away in Boudh district on Saturday night but his body lay unattended in his house for nearly 12 hours with neither his neighbours nor relatives turned up for cremation.

It was only after the local administration intervened that the body of Sunil Das, who originally hails from Ganjam, could be cremated around 2 pm on Sunday.

This horrifying incident that took place at Dhalpur under Harbhanga police station of Boudh district, about 230km from here, illustrates the level of fear among people about coming in contact with Covid-19 positive people.

The Block Development Officer (BDO) of Harbhanga, Nilakantha Behera told The Telegraph, “The teacher, Sunil Das (65) belonged to Ganjam district but used to stay here along with his wife after retirement.

“A practising Brahmin and a highly religious person he had gone to the Kumbh mela leaving the wife at home. He had returned only four days ago. He was in home isolation.”

Behera said: “After he returned, his swab test was done. On Saturday morning, he had high fever and later in the evening he even vomited several times. His condition deteriorated later and he passed away.

'Since he was infected with the coronavirus people were hesitant to act as his pall bearers.”

Her wife tried her best to seek the help of neighbours but to no avail.

“None of the neighbours and relatives turned up fearing infection. Later, we approached the local administration which came for our help.

“The local BDO arranged the PPE Kits and an ambulance. After he convinced his relatives, the body was cremated in the afternoon,” said local journalist Siman Nayak.

Nayak said: “Sunil Sir who used to teach Sanskrit, had been residing here along with his wife following his retirement. All his kids settled outside.

“The wife had to remain a silent spectator and helplessly watch the body of Sunil Sir. None of us could dare to ask her any question as she was passing through a trauma. It’s shocking that his body remained unattended for nearly 12 hours.”

Officials maintained that his swab test report, which came positive, reached his family only after he passed away.

“We have now launched a tracing exercise to find out persons who had come in his contact. We will conduct swab tests of all these people,” local BDO Behera said.

Noted social activist Sudarshan Dash said: “This is not the only instance where relatives have shown reluctance to take a body to the crematorium. Such incidents are a regular phenomenon. We need to create awareness on the issue.”

In a related development, Puri district administration on Sunday announced that it would not allow cremation of any non-Puri resident at Swargadwara located on the Puri sea beach from
Monday onwards in view of the rise in coronavirus cases.

Swargadwara is considered as an auspicious place and there is a belief that if someone is cremated at Swargadwara he or she will go to heaven.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths because of coronavirus in the state reached 1,988.

Seven persons were reported dead in Odisha in the past 24 hours.