Jaunpur (UP), Apr 28 (IANS): Shocking pictures of an old man carrying his wife's body on his bicycle for cremation have exposed another heart-wrenching aspect of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

According to reports, the old woman died of Covid and the local villagers did not allow her cremation in the village, fearing spread of the infection.

Her husband was forced to carry the body of his deceased wife on his bicycle for hours, in search of a place to cremate her.

In one of the photographs, the old man is seen sitting on the roadside while the body of the woman lies on the road along with the bicycle.

However, after coming to know about the elderly man's ordeal, the Jaunpur police conducted the last rites of the woman at Ramghat on Tuesday.

A police spokesman said that the woman's condition had deteriorated on Monday, after which she was admitted to the Umanath Singh District Hospital. However, she died soon after and the hospital sent her body back in an ambulance.

The local people did not come forward to help the elderly man in cremating the deceased. They also warned him not to cremate his wife in the cremation ground in the village.

The district administration, however, has not confirmed if the deceased was Covid positive.