Rameswaram shocker: Victim’s body sent to GH in garbage vehicle

This was the second incident of its kind in the holy town, the earlier one being the case of a devotee from Kerala, who had died of heart attack.  According to sources, Ramamani Sauvain, from Bhadrak in Odisha, had come to Rameswaram along with her family to participate in the Maha Sivarathiri celebrations at the Ramanathaswamy temple. 

On Thursday, after taking bath in the holy theerthams, she went to the lodge where her family was staying. On her way back to the temple, a water tanker lorry knocked her down fatally near Agasthiyar Theertham. Subsequent events that took place proved to be a shocker for local residents and pilgrims as the police put her body in a garbage collecting vehicle and sent it to the Rameswaram GH for postmortem examination. Though shocked by the inhuman act of the police, relatives had no other option but to follow the tractor.

Reacting to the police action, residents and activists condemned the Rameswaram Municipality for the lack of ambulance facility in the holy town. 

Speaking to DT Next, Ilango, a social activist and a member of Naam Tamilar Katchi, said it was pathetic that the civic body did not have an ambulance. Rameswaram is one of the AMRUT cities and crores of rupees had been allotted for the town under various schemes. 

“Rameswaram is a holy town and the common belief is that dying in this place would be a path to salvation. Ironically, people who die here do not get the due respect,” said Ilango. When contacted, Veera Muthukumar, Rameswaram Municipal Commissioner, said he was not aware of the incident and would enquire into it.