Hapless family of a Covid-19 patient from Doda, who breathed his last at the Government Medical College hospital on Monday, faced precarious situation when over two hundred local residents barged inside the cremation ground to disrupt the cremation ceremony in Domana area of Jammu on Tuesday.

Outnumbered by the presence of agitated residents, the family was advised to move out of the area by the district authorities and local policemen.

Left with no choice, they had to lift the dead body from the pyre and shifted the same to the mortuary of the hospital. 

Later, the cremation was performed by the close family members with assistance from the district authorities at another cremation ground on the periphery of Jammu. 

The family members alleged, it is on the directions of the district authorities they were escorted inside the Domana cremation ground but soon after they initiated the rituals before performing the last rites large number of people converged at the venue and forced them to move out of the area. District Magistrate Jammu Sushma Chauhan said, the cremation of the covid 19 patient was performed as per the guidelines in another cremation ground.

Meanwhile,  two deaths were reported from Srinagar along with 117 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the total tall to 2718 in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Out of these 117 cases, 40 cases were reported from Jammu and 77 from Kashmir division.

The death toll has touched 33, 4 in Jammu and 29 from Kashmir. According to the media bulletin, out of 2718 cases, there are 1732 active cases in Jammu and Kashmir.  503 cases are active positive in Jammu division and 1229 in Kashmir division.  Three districts of  Anantnag, Kulgam and Srinagar in Kashmir valley have so far recorded over 300 positive cases and two districts of  Kupwara and Baramulla have recorded more than 250 positive cases. In Jammu division, Ramban and Jammu districts have recorded  over 150 cases so far  followed by Kathua which has recorded 80 cases.