Migrant youth’s burial opposed in Chengalpattu

Residents feared he was a COVID-19 victim

A section of residents opposed the burial of a 25-year-old migrant youth who died on Tuesday near Chengalapattu.

The deceased has been identified as Ajmal, from Assam, who worked as a helper in a private firm in Thiruporur.

As he was fasting, his condition deteriorated. He was admitted to the Government Hospital, Chengalpattu, 10 days ago but died on Tuesday without responding to treatment.

As his family said they can’t afford to transport the body, his friends and colleagues arranged some money. On Wednesday, his body was taken in an ambulance to a burial ground in Alapakkam village near Chengalpattu.

On seeing the ambulance, the residents gathered and opposed the burial suspecting the deceased might be a COVID-19 case. Police personnel and other authorities negotiated and shifted the body to another burial ground where it was buried.