Daijiworld Media Network - Patna

Patna, May 27: Since the lockdown, there have been numerous visuals of pain and agony of the migrant workers stranded across the country. One such tragic visual which emerged was that of a baby playing with the shroud of his dead mother.

In the heart-wrenching video widely shared in social media, the toddler can be seen tugging at the cloth of his mother, but his mother remained still even when the cloth was pulled off. She had died of extreme heat, hunger and dehydration moments before the video was taken.

The woman was 23 years old and the video was taken at Muzaffarpur in Bihar. She had arrived by a special train for migrants on Monday May 25.

A two-year-old baby had reportedly died in the same station of heat and inadequate food. They were said to have boarded a different train on Sunday May 24 from Delhi.

The woman had boarded a train from Gujrat. Family members claimed that the woman was unwell on the train due to inadequate food and water. On arriving at Muzaffarpur, the woman collapsed and died.

In the video the child can be seen continuing to play with the mother attempting to wake her up even while her body was being carried out of the station until an older child drags him off.

The woman was accompanied by her sister and her sister's husband along with two children and was heading to Katihar, sources from NDTV said.

The lockdown imposed in late March has left thousands of migrants across the country on their own. With no jobs or money left and the uncertainty of the following days with cases increasing day by day, thousands of them headed for their homes. Due to no commutes available after the lockdown, they resorted to self-reliance and many set on foot, some on cycles or autos and trucks despite knowing their home states remained thousands of kilometres afar. Many died on the way due to hunger, exhaustion, accidents and so on.

Though the government had made arrangements earlier this month, many migrant workers still resorted to making desperate arrangements due to various paperwork and glitches.

The increasing temperature with the onset of summer has added to the woes of the migrants.

Recently, an order issued by the home ministry stating that no permission was required from the destination states has created additional chaos.

Officials have identified that lack of proper coordination between the centre and the states has worsened the arrangements on the trains and the stations.