Man died of dehydration in the country of sacred river Ganges: Corona Chronicle #029
He started walking towards his hometown, Meetapalle which was almost 120 kilometres far.
He realised that it will be tough but his mind was made.
He left Bengaluru on 27th April.
He came here to earn money so that he could help his poor parents.
His parents were farm labourers in their hometown.
He started studying in ITI in Bengluru and had learnt how to drive to help himself for his education.
Due to the coronavirus lockdown, his college was closed and he did not even have work.
His savings were also drying fast.
Hence, his parents asked him to come home.
He thought that he will have food to eat and a roof over his head at least at home and decided to leave.
He walked for 3 days without any break.
As soon as he reached his village, he collapsed.
The villagers were scared and a wave of nervousness ran amongst the people.
They took to the hospital but he gave in to death.
His family was devastated by the news and wanted to perform his last rites but his dead body was not allowed in the village.
The villagers felt that he was infected by coronavirus and that was the reason of his death.
His brother, Mallikarjun was trying to convince the people that his brother was not affected by the coronavirus.
His brother was sure about that because he was perfectly fine before he starred his journey from Bengaluru.
The ambulance in which his dead body was brought was stopped outside the village.
They took out his body and arranged some plastic crates in an orchard outside the village and finally kept his body there.
The police was called and asked to test him.
A team of police and doctors came and took his blood sample.
To everyone’s relief when the results of the test came in on 30th April, they were negative.
Until the results had come in, his family was also not allowed to go near his dead body.
The family which lost their son was not even able to see him while his dead body was laying in the orchard for more than 36 hours.
His last rites were finally performed by his family, trying to come over the worst pain and sadness in the world.
The tragedy is that the family got to mourn over his body from far away but the villagers were also not wrong on their part.
The villagers just wanted themselves to be safe which was not even selfish as they did whatever they could for him.
His name is Hari Prasad and he was only 26 years old.
He basically died due to dehydration.
The irony is Hari died in a country which is known for having food and water with each step.
Disclaimer: Based on true events.
– Tanisha Agrawal
