Punjab: Man carries 11-year-old daughter's body on shoulders for cremation, video goes viral
Chandigarh, May 15: A video of a daily-wager carrying the corpse of his 11-year-old daughter on his shoulders in Punjab's Jalandhar has gone viral on social media, prompting district authorities to order a probe into the incident.
In the video, which was shot by some passersby on May 10, Dilip can be seen carrying the body of his daughter Sonu on his shoulders to the cremation ground for her last rites. His son was also with him.
Talking to the media on Saturday, Dilip said his daughter had not been well and he took her to a hospital in Amritsar for treatment on the advice of doctors at a Jalandhar hospital.
He said his daughter died on the evening of May 9 at the Amritsar hospital.
After he brought the body to his room in Ram Nagar in Jalandhar, his neighbours did not come forward to help him fearing that the girl was a COVID-19 patient, said Dilip, who hails from Odisha.
Meanwhile, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori ordered a probe into the whole incident after the video went viral on social media.
He said it was found that the minor did not succumb to COVID-19.
The DC said as per an inquiry conducted by the sub divisional magistrate, the cause of death was not COVID-19 as she had tested negative for the infection.
He said the girl was admitted in Jalandhar Civil Hospital from where she was referred to the Amritsar Medical college.
An ambulance carried the patient to Amritsar, where she remained admitted in the surgical ward.
After the death, an ambulance again dropped the body back in Jalandhar at their house.
The DC assured fulsome support to the family in this hour of grief.
COVID Patient Tracking Officer (CPTO) Navneet Kaur Bal said no one in the family or anyone in the area came forward to seek help in the cremation.
She said in normal cases (other than COVID deaths), once the body is handed over to the family, they take care of the last rights. However, in the present case, no one approached her for help in cremation.
Bal also stated that the cremation protocol is followed only in case of COVID death, however this case was different as the deceased had tested negative for the infection.
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Injustice to Karnataka in tax devolution, will fight it out: D K Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging that the Centre has done injustice by allocating less funds to Karnataka in the tax devolution, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said that the Congress government in the state would fight it out.
Shivakumar, also the state Congress chief, attacked BJP MPs and union ministers from the state for remaining silent on the issue and termed it "shameful."
"Injustice has happened to Karnataka. They have given more to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We were given less than even Andhra Pradesh, which doesn't contribute much in tax. We will fight and protest this in the days ahead," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "We will formulate a programme to fight for - our tax, our right".
"Why have BJP MPs and Central ministers not raise their voices? Despite having five Central ministers from the state, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, they remain silent even though injustice is happening to the state. This is shameful," he said.
When pointed to the BJP’s reported defence that the population of the states being used as a criterion for devolution of taxes and comparison to the figures related to the Manmohan Singh-led UPA tenure, Shivakumar said, "Let's discuss all those in the Assembly....let them join the protest with us for now."
The union government on Thursday released tax devolution of Rs 1,78,173 crore to the state governments, including one advance instalment of Rs 89,086.50 crore in addition to the regular instalment due for October 2024.
Karnataka got Rs 6,498 crore in the state-wise distribution of net proceeds of union taxes and duties for October 2024.
Responding to a question on the opposition's criticism of the term "evil forces" as used in the state government’s advertisements, Shivakumar said, "Based on what we have seen and the information we have, we have tried to express our feelings to the people. I can only say this much now. Let's discuss the rest in the Assembly."
The government's Dasara advertisement in newspapers on Friday read, "May goddess Chamundeshwari bestow upon us the strength to bring peace and prosperity to the people of Karnataka and courage to slay the evil forces that try to destabilize the state with deviousness and deceit."
The advertisement was seen as a dig at the opposition BJP and JD(S), which are targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the MUDA scam and demanding his resignation.
