Dr Simon was one of those brave hearts who died battling the Coronavirus. What was more shocking was the crowd apathy when he was to be buried. Dr Simon's wife, Anandi Simon, had requested for her husband to be properly re-buried, to which the Greater Chennai Corporation has replied in the negative, citing safety issues.
The city corporation said that it had consulted a team of public health experts who advised them against exhuming and reburying the doctor's mortal remains. "According to the advice of the expert committee, transferring the body of someone who had been affected with COVID-19 was not deemed safe," a statement said from the corporation said.
Despite the World Health Organisation issuing guidelines for proper burial of people dead from Coronavirus and stating that it's not dangerous, people seem to have a lot of misconception and refuse corpses to be buried in their area.
Friends and colleagues of Dr Simon had tearfully recounted the struggle they had when he was taken for his burial. Locals pelted stones at the ambulance, injured ambulance drivers. Later, Dr Simon was buried with the help of security provided by police personnel. The entire incident had sent shockwaves among the more literate of the society with several politicians and actors condemning the incident.
