Chennai, July 20 (PTI) The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu government to provide adequate time to perform the religious rites of deceased COVID-19 patients, but said the protocol to cremate or bury such bodies should not be violated.

The bench, comprising Justices M M Sundresh and R Hemalatha on its own passed the interim order after taking note of a plea initiated by it citing an incident of violence and denial of a decent burial of a doctor who died of COVID-19 in Chennai.

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Senior counsel Ravi Kumar Paul submitted that the health and Corporation offices in the city were showing undue haste in cremating or burying the bodies of COVID-19 patients.

"Adequate time is not given even to perform the last rites as per religious beliefs," he said.

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Recording the submission, the court passed the order and directed the government to also ensure presence of police during such cremation or burial to avoid untoward incidents.

The issue pertains to death of Dr Simon Hercules, whose body was taken to a cemetery at Kilpauk. Residents of the area opposed the burial.

This led to violence during which the ambulance and the relatives of the deceased doctor were attacked.

So the court by itself took note of the issue, initiated the PIL and passed the order.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)