Madras HC orders reburial of Tamil Nadu physician who died of Covid

The Madras High Court Wednesday ordered the Chennai civic physique to exhume the physique of a health care provider—who was compelled to be buried in a cemetary of a special religion after his loss of life as a result of Covid-19—and reinterr it at a burial floor of his household’s alternative.
The order got here on a plea by Anandhi Simon, the spouse of Dr Simon Hercules who died of Covid-19 in April 2020.
Stating that the dignity of the deceased ought to be maintained all through the method, Justice Abdul Quddhose noticed that the aftermath of the physician’s loss of life was “shocking” because the incident had given a go-by to all human values. His corpse was shunted from one burial floor to a different because of the objections raised by heartless human beings for permitting the burial of the physique of a Covid-19 sufferer, the judgment stated.
The court docket famous that he finally needed to be buried in a spot belonging to a special religion. It requested the authorities to comply with Covid-19 safeguards whereas exhuming the physique.
Dr Hercules was a neurosurgeon and the managing director of New Hope Medical Centre in Kilpauk. In the early weeks of the pandemic, native residents objected to his burial on the Kilpauk cemetery as they feared that it will trigger the unfold of the an infection within the space. After the physique was taken to a burial floor at Vellangadu, the burial staff together with his colleagues and family confronted protests and assaults from individuals. The police needed to step in lastly to bury the physique.

Anandhi sought reburial of his mortal stays on the Kilpauk cemetery as per his closing want. She moved the plea in High Court after the Chennai Corporation rejected her request citing a public well being committee’s recommendation.