Chennai, Apr 14: After facing protests from locals, who thronged the burial ground opposing the cremation of a Covid-19 infected orthopaedic doctor, the body was cremated in the city in the early hours today after getting the consent of his family members, amid tight security.
The doctor, hailing from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, had tested positive last week while treating some patients and was shifted to a Corporate hospital at suburban Vanagaram, where he died last evening.
When the body was brought to a cremation ground at suburban Ambattur for funeral, local people, on hearing the news, started assembling in large numbers and staged protests fearing spread of the virus.
The officials tried to convince them that such fears were unfounded and that there was no scientific evidence to prove this.
Despite prolonged parleys, the body was taken back to the mortuary late last night, as the locals were unrelenting in their protests.
After getting the consent of the family members, a team of health and police officials brought the body from the mortuary to a crematorium in the city and cremated it before dawn by taking all precautionary steps and following the government protocols, amid tight security, police said.