State health department officials sanitised the sweet shop (Representational)
A sweet shop owner in Kolkata, who had undergone a test for coronavirus, died on Wednesday evening, hours before testing positive for the deadly virus. Locals left his body inside his shop in north Kolkata's Gouribari for 16 long hours after failing to get a death certificate to perform his last rites.
The 57-year-old died on his way to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday evening after he fell ill, the people from the locality, who accompanied him, said. Since he had died before reaching the hospital, doctors refused to give a death certificate. The locals then brought him back to the shop and left his body inside all night, with the shutters pulled down.
The man, who was from Bengal's Singur, used to live at his shop along with his workers. After falling ill a week ago, he went for a test at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. But seeing a huge queue for tests there, he went to a private lab on June 29.
On Wednesday, the man's condition deteriorated. Locals took him to Calcutta Medical College's COVID facility but were denied a death certificate since he had died before reaching the hospital.
They then approached a doctor in the vicinity of the sweet shop for a death certificate but he refused to give one without seeing the coronavirus test report.
They even contacted the police who advised them to wait until the report came.
Hitting a dead end, the locals left the body inside the sweet shop and shuttered it.
On Thursday morning, when the test report turned out to be positive, they informed the state health department.
Around noon, employees of the department took the body away and later sanitised the sweet shop.
The seven workers, who lived in the shop with the owner, have now been quarantined.