As per media reports, in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur, dozens of dead bodies have been found floating in the Yamuna river during the last few days.
These dead bodies are suspected to be of Covid-19 patients died who have died recently in villages of the two districts.
Due to the high rise in the number of deaths, villagers are failing to perform the last rites for all the dead bodies and are forced to dump the dead bodies in the river.
However, it has also been reported that out of all the bodies found one was half-burned, while others were covered in shrouds. This directed that they have been put in the river instead of being cremated.
Normally villagers in Kanpur and all adjacent districts including Hamirpur consign the dead bodies to Yamuna River as they consider it holy.
People of these villages believe that one or two bodies can be seen in the river once in a while, which is quite normal in the region. But they seem to be amazed after discovering so many bodies in a short span of time.
Such incidents can be considered as indications that people are dying in large numbers in remote areas of Uttar Pradesh.
Moreover, the appearance of dead bodies in the river has been confirmed by Hamirpur’s Additional Superintendent of Police Anup Kumar Singh.
He said that a police officer sent to the spot has reported that two bodies were brought on a tractor from Kanpur side and released in the Yamuna.
A similar incident took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district. The place where the bodies were found is around 55 km from Bihar’s Buxar via the river, where more than a hundred dead bodies were found yesterday.
This has ignited a debate between the authorities in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, as Bihar alleged that the shrouds had floated to the state from Uttar Pradesh, as there is no tradition of consigning bodies to Ganges, Yamuna or any other river in Bihar.
“We have got the information. Our officers are present on the spot and an investigation is underway. We are trying to find out where they came from,” said MP Singh, the District Magistrate of Ghazipur, ANI quoted the DM, as saying.
It is to be noted that on Tuesday, over 100 decomposing bodies washed up on the banks of Ganga in Buxar. Dozens of bodies were seen floating in the river at Chausa town, located near the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border.