india

Updated: Apr 26, 2020 15:26 IST

Over 90 people from around two dozen villages in Rajasthan have been booked for allegedly attending a funeral without taking permission from the administration and violating social-distancing norms, the Jaipur Rural Police said on Sunday.

Tarachand Sharma, station house officer (SHO) of Andhi police station, said a 75-year-old resident of Birasna Ramnagar panchayat was admitted in a local primary health care (PHC) centre on April 17 after he complained of pain due to gallstones. He was tested negative for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), and a surgery was done on April 22 to remove the stones.

“But his condition deteriorated and he died in the afternoon on the same day...his family members took the body from the hospital and his funeral was done at a crematorium falling in the limits of Andhi police station in the evening,” Sharma said.

He said the family members didn’t inform the local administration even as more than a hundred people attended the funeral. According to federal guidelines, more than 20 people are not allowed at funerals during the lockdown announced to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease.

“We received information from our sources that 124 people attended the funeral --- which was against the orders of the district administration. Police, along with local medical teams, surveyed the area and have so far identified 96 people who have been booked,” Sharma said.

These people, including the family members of the deceased, have been booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

Sharma said all these people have been have been kept in quarantine at a private college in Sitapura area.