Two men were caught on camera throwing the dead body of a COVID-19 patient into a river in Uttar Pradesh. The incident comes days after thousands of bodies were found buried in shallow graves by the river Ganges.  

The video, which has been widely shared on social media, was shot by a couple, who was driving by the spot in the Balrampur district on May 28.

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In the clip, two men can be seen lifting a body near a bridge over river Rapti while it’s heavily raining. While one of them is wearing a PPE suit, another one is dressed in regular clothes.  

Here’s the viral video:

Balrampur Chief Medical Officer VB Singh later confirmed that the body was of a patient who died of COVID-19 and the relatives were trying to dump it into the river.

In a Twitter video posted by Balrampur Police, Singh said that the COVID patient was hospitalised on May 25 and he died three days later on May 28. He said that a case has been filed against the persons who threw the body into the river.

Earlier this month, thousands of bodies were found buried in the sandbanks of Ganga. The authorities said that could have floated up during the high tide.

Hundreds of bodies had also washed up on the banks of river Ganges in parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The Centre then issued notice to several north Indian states to ensure that dead bodies are not disposed of in rivers.