Telangana Teacher On Poll Duty Dies Of Covid, Husband Says "Lost My Life"

The Telangana High Court recently observed that around 500 teachers who got infected with Covid during the recently held assembly bypoll must be recognised as Covid warriors.

A primary school teacher in Telangana died of COVID-19 just days after she was summoned for election duty for the Nagarjunasagar assembly bypoll in Telangana on April 17, leaving behind her husband Kammampati Mohan Rao and their 8-year-old daughter. Their story is one among the tragic stories of 15 families whose lives have been ruined by politics and elections amid the raging pandemic. Sandhya had a fever on April 20 and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. A week later, she was admitted to an ICU in a private hospital in Hyderabad. She died on May 8. She was 35. Her husband says the world has collapsed for him and their daughter. "Not just my wife, I have lost my life. Why were the elections held? Just for one MLA, so many people have died. My family is destroyed. Elections could have happened later after lockdown or after all were vaccinated,'' he says. Ms Sandhya went for her polling duty to Haliya, where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a massive public meeting just two days ago on April 14. Subsequently, the Chief Minister, the TRS party candidate and hundreds of others tested positive.