TNI Bureau: Forget about respect for the living persons, even the deceased fail to get the honour and respect they deserve in this heartless COVID-19 era. The latest visuals from Palasa-Kasibugga municipality of Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, has shamed the humanity yet again.

Visuals of local civic staff towing away the body of a Covid-19 victim with an earth mover to the cremation ground yesterday, brought tears to the eyes of millions of people who watched it on Social Media and TV Channels.

The 72-year old Covid-19 victim’s body was packed and placed in the front portion of the a JCB earth mover, which was moved to the cremation ground by the municipal staff.

The deceased, a former Class IV employee in the municipal office himself, would not have imagined that he would get such a shabby treatment by the office where he spent good amount of years.

He would also lament (may be his soul) that his family members did not come forward to cremate him and neighbours put pressure on the Municipal staff to remove the dead body at the earliest. None of the family members came to the cremation ground although they were offered PPE kits and masks by the municipal staff.

The deceased was already suffering from comorbidities. He died at his residence in Udayapuram area on Thursday night and tested positive for COVID-19 during testing on Friday.

Meanwhile, Municipal Commissioner T Nagendra Kumar and Sanitary Inspector N Rajeev have been suspended for showing dishonour to the dead. But, the bigger culprits are his family members and neighbours who disowned the deceased and wanted the dead body to be removed from their area at the earliest.