Ballari district admin disbands staff for 'inhuman' disposal of COVID-19 dead bodies

The Karnataka government on Tuesday disbanded a field team involved in burials of bodies of Coronavirus patients in Ballari district after a video showing inhuman handling of the dead bodies surfaced. The state government also apologised to the families of the deceased COVID-19 patients and to others who were hurt by the incident.

The swift action by district administration comes after Congress leader DK Shivakumar posted a video that allegedly showed officials 'inhumanly' dumping bodies of the patients who die of COVID into a pit in Ballari.

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"It's disturbing to see bodies of COVID patients who have died being dumped inhumanly into a pit in Ballari. Is this civility? This is a reflection of how the govt has handled this Corona crisis. I urge the govt to take immediate action and ensure that this doesn't happen again," he tweeted.

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Soon after the viral video surfaced online the Deputy Commissioner, Ballari issued a press note which stated that it had conducted an enquiry and it was found that the video belonged to the district. It further stated that the field team was involved in the burial of eight people who passed away after succumbing to COVID-19.

Although, according to the DC, all protocols and SOPs were followed by the team during the burial process, however, the "disrespectful handling of the bodies while being lowered on to the ground by the field staff" led to the entire field team involved being disbanded and will be replaced by a new team trained by the HOD, Forensic, VIMS.

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'There is no greater religion than humanity': CM Yediyurappa

Meanwhile, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa also termed the behaviour of the staff "very inhuman and very painful" and urged the staff to tread cautiously with humanity in handling the funeral of those affected by the disease. He added, "Let's walk with humanity, and realize that there is no greater religion than humanity."

COVID-19 in Karnataka

COVID-19 cases in Karnataka crossed the 15,000 mark on Tuesday, with the state reporting 947 new cases and 20 related fatalities, taking the death toll to 246, the health department said. 235 patients were discharged after recovery.

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(With inputs from ANI)