In Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, a school teacher, who was a part of panchayat polls duty, died seven days before her wedding, India Today reported. She died of COVID-19 and reportedly contracted the disease while on election duty. 

Swati Gupta, a resident of UP’s Badshahpur in the Jaunpur district was set to get married on April 30.  Before which, she was under training for the Panchayat polls. According to reports, she contracted the virus while on her training. She also wrote a letter to be excused from the election duty.

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Just a day before the April 15 Panchayat polls, her health deteriorated, after which, she was admitted to a hospital in Meerut. Her family also reached to look after her, but just one week before her wedding, on April 23, she succumbed to the disease.

Earlier this week, the teachers’ unions in UP submitted a list of 577 teachers who lost their lives on election duty following, as India battles an aggressive second wave of coronavirus. The union has demanded that every teacher’s family should receive a compensation of Rs 50 lakh.

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While the union demanded a stay on counting of votes for UP Panchayat polls on May 2, the court rejected the plea. To which the union’s spokesperson told PTI, “We need to save our own lives, court did their work, but looking at the government’s approach, we have to see what fits right.”

Meanwhile, the counting of votes for the panchayat polls began on Sunday.