UP: Fearing COVID-19, local denies funeral to woman; aged husband forced to carry her body on cycle
Jaunpur (UP): In a heartbreaking incident reported from the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, an elderly man was forced to carry his wife’s dead body on a bicycle for hours in search of a place to cremate her.
The photos of the incident are doing rounds across social media platforms. In the pictures, the old man is sitting on the roadside to rest while his wife’s dead body lies on the road along with the bicycle.
According to the reports, the locals of the village did not allow the man to cremate his wife fearing COVID-19. The man, reports added, ended up carrying his wife on the bicycle searching for a place to cremate her for hours.
After the police were informed of the ordeal, the Jaunpur Police then conducted the last rites of the woman at Ramghat on Tuesday.
Rajkumari, the 50-year-old wife of Tilakdhari Singh, a resident of Amberpur in the Madiyahu Kotwali area of the Jaunpur district, had been ill for a long time. The administration however has not confirmed if she was COVID-19 positive.
On Monday, her condition deteriorated when her husband admitted her to the Umanath Singh District Hospital. However, she died soon after and the hospital sent her body back in an ambulance.
Villagers didn't come forward to help the elderly man when he took it upon himself to cremate the body as it had started decomposing. Photos of the incident are now being shared on social media, criticizing the administration for failing to prevent the tragedy.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
