The remains are of a 36-year old male who had died while receiving treatment at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital.

His remains were handed over to relatives on Jan. 20. However,  a day after, a group of PHIs had arrived at the funeral house, and attempted to take away the body, saying the deceased was Covid-19 infected. Bewildered relatives had strongly opposed the sudden turn of events.

A commotion had erupted at the Neerammulla village of Melsiripura, because of this incident. 

By that time, a lot of residents had already attended the funeral and many in the immediate neighbourhood had shut themselves inside their homes, giving the area an appearance of an isolated area.

Police was also deployed in the area.

However, with the intervention of the Gokarella police, a Buddhist monk was brought in to conduct the final religious rites before handing over the body to health authorities.

(Source : Aruna)