The funeral of 68-year-old man from Nellibanda of Nalgonda, who died of Covid-19 in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, will be held as per religious rites at the Vallakadavu Juma Masjid in Thiruvananthapuram at 4.30 pm on Saturday.
Thiruvananthapuram District Collector K. Gopalakrishnan announced this after meeting the relatives of the 68-year-old man at the Poojapura ICML quarantine centre on Saturday morning. The group, comprising five persons including the wife and two children of the 68-year-old Nellibanda man, were lodged in the quarantine centre since they reached Thiruvananthapuram on May 22 on the Jaipur-Thiruvananthapuram special train, reportedly after they boarded the train by mistake thinking it was heading to Telangana.
Gopalakrishnan, in a Facebook post on Saturday, said he had met the relatives of the man along with Civil Supplies managing director Dr. Narasimhugari TL Reddy to converse with them in Telugu, which was the only language they knew.
“It is as per their wishes that the funeral will be held as per religious rites at the Vallakadavu Juma Masjid,” he said.
The group, after reaching Thiruvananthapuram, was waiting for a train to Hyderabad on June 1. However, the elderly man showed symptoms of Covid-19, following which he was shifted to the Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital, where he died while under treatment on Wednesday. A swab test report on Thursday showed he was Covid-19 positive.
With the man’s relatives knowing only Telugu, a district administration official had got in touch with Telangana Today to trace their relatives as per the address they gave of Nellibanda in Nalgonda. With Telangana Today managing track their relatives and connect them with the group in Thiruvananthapuram via the District administration and District Medical Office officials, arrangements are being made for the group’s return to Telangana once their quarantine period is over.