Manipur Girl, COVID-19 suspect, gets 3 minutes to say goodbye to father

The girl had returned from Chennai on a Shramik train and was then sent to institutional quarantine.

Kangpokpi:

When 22-year-old Anjali Hmangte was taken to Manipur’s Kangpokpi from a quarantine center in Imphal, she had only three minutes left to say goodbye to her father, who died Tuesday night of a prolonged illness.

Heartbreaking images show the girl, a COVID-19 suspect, approaching the coffin, spying, but not even her mother, family or neighbors were able to approach and comfort her. The doctors kept looking at her stopwatch and as soon as the assigned three minutes were up, the health authorities took her away.

The girl had returned from Chennai on a Shramik train (special trains for migrant workers and their families) on May 25 and was then sent to institutional quarantine when another passenger she traveled with tested positive for the virus.

Only after asking the authorities for permission and wearing a full set of personal protective equipment (PPE), the girl was able to attend her father’s funeral on Wednesday.

An additional 13 cases of COVID-19 have been reported from Manipur, bringing the state’s coronavirus case count to 121, the state government said Thursday.