PRAYAGRAJ, India — Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washed up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social media that they’re the remains ofIn jeeps and boats, police used portable loudspeakers with microphones asking people not to dispose of bodies in rivers. “We are here to help you perform the last rites,” police said.
He said some villagers did not cremate their dead as is customary, due to a Hindu tradition during some periods of religious significance, and instead disposed of them in rivers or by digging graves on riverbanks. K.P. Singh, a senior police officer, said authorities had earmarked a cremation ground on the Prayagraj riverbank for those who died of COVID-19, and police were no longer allowing any burials on the riverfront. Authorities in Sehgal state have found “a small number” of bodies on the riverbanks, he said, but didn’t give a figure.
Health authorities last week retrieved 71 bodies that washed up on a Ganges River bank in neighboring Bihar state. India’s two big states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with nearly 358 million people in total, are among the worst hit in the virus surge sweeping through the country with devastating death tolls. Hapless villagers have been rushing the sick to nearby towns and cities for treatment, many of them dying on the way, victims of India’s crumbling health care.
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