Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (SP)

Karkala, Oct 5: The officials had a problem when a coronavirus-positive man committed suicide by jumping into a well here. The officials were caught unawares about the method by which the body of the victim could be brought out of the well.

Officials of revenue, police, fire departments and the general public were clueless. Finally, Asif Apatbandhava, a social worker, came forward to bring the body out.

Prasanna (45) a photographer from Karkala, had tested positive for coronavirus infection. He was overwhelmed by this development, and ended his life by jumping into a well on Saturday morning. His family members, government officials, tahsildar etc gathered around the well but no one was prepared to bring the body out. On Sunday afternoon, tahsildar, Purandar Hegde, recollected about Asif Apatbandhava, a social worker from Mulky Karnad. Asif happens to be the founder of a rehabilitation centre for the sick. The tahsildar made a call to Asif.

Asif Apatbandhava

Asif reached here with his team after a 90 minute travel. He went down the well, pulled the body by its hand, tied a rope around the waist, and pulled the body out in 15 minutes. Once the body was out of the well, he sprayed sanitiser on himself, and bathed with soap.

Asif said that when he reached Karkala out of humanitarian gesture at the call made by Karkala tahsildar, 150 persons were waiting there. "I went down and brought the body out of the well. A few days back, a coronavirus-positive man from Mulky had ended his life. In that incident too, I had gone down the well and brought the body out. It is not possible to go into the mask and PPE kit on," he explained.

He also mentioned that in Suratkal, he had physically lifted a COVID patient from a flat there. He also said he had performed the funeral of a number of people.

Karkala tahisldar, Purandar Hegde, said that he called Asif as no one was prepared to bring the body out of the well. He said that Asif responded to the call and attended to the work. He added that the department is ready to help Asif.