Remains of nurse who died of COVID-19 barred from her village cemetery

JAKARTA, April 11 -- Residents in a rural village, Desa Sewakul in Central Jawa, Indonesia have barred the authorities from burying the remains of a nurse, who had died of COVID-19, in a cemetery in their village.

According to local media reports, Nuria Kurniasih, 38, a nurse at the Dr Kariadi General Hospital, Semarang had died Last Thursday, a week after receiving treatment for the virus.

She was scheduled to be buried in her village (Desa Sewakul) at the Sewakul Public Cemetery on Thursday. However, a group of villagers from Desa Sewakul prevented the burial from taking place fearing virus would spread to the village.

The hearse was forced to return to the Dr Kariadi General Hospital with her body which was later buried at the hospital’s burial ground.

According to the local media, a group of villagers from Desa Sewakul prevented the authorities from entering the Sewakul Public Cemetery despite all the funeral arrangements which had been made and the appeals and cries of the late nurse’s family.

Governor of Central Jawa, Ganjar Pranowo, in a statement, expressed regret over the incident and hoped that it would not be repeated especially when it involved a health worker who had served the community and country.

Desa Sewakul village head, Purbo apologised to the family of the nurse, saying he was powerless to stop the aggressive actions of a group of people in the village.

Antara News Agency also reported that the action of the group of villagers in Desa Sewakul had been condemned by the Indonesian National Association of Nurses and netizens on social media.

-- BERNAMA