Reporters help family perform last rites of COVID-19 victim

They stepped in as villagers near Murnad were reluctant to come forward over fear of contracting the infection

Amidst the raging COVID-19 second wave that has spread to rural areas, a group of journalists in Kodagu helped a grieving family perform the last rites of an elderly man who died of COVID-19. The reporters associated with ‘Madhyama Spandana’, which was formed for extending help during the COVID-19 crisis last year, responded to an SOS call from a village near Parane, a few kilometres from Murnad, as the locals were reluctant to help the victim’s family perform the last rites over fears of contracting the infection. Four reporters and another person rushed to the village, about 40 km from Siddapura, and wore the PPE kits provided by the local panchayat to assist the family, whose house is located in hilly terrain, in the midst of rain.