Berhampur: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in India many incidents of tragedies have unfolded. The disease has destroyed families while lockdown has hit the finances of all strata of society very hard.
One such tragic story emerged out of Angargaon village under Beguniapada block in Ganjam district. Four brothers of the same family died after being affected by the COVID-19 virus. The tragic deaths have left the other members of the family completely shattered. The last of the deceased breathed his last Wednesday due to COVID-19.
Sources said brothers Dhabaleswar Sahoo, Bhikari Sahoo, Basudev Sahoo, Mangaraj Sahoo and Krushna Chandra Sahoo were living together along with their families in Angargaon village. They had their own businesses.
Tragedy struck the family for the first time two years ago when the family’s second son Bhikari fell ill and died. However, with the passage of time the pain of losing a brother was slowly fading.
Everything was proceeding smoothly for the family till the outbreak of COVID-19. In the month of July, three brothers tested positive for the infection and within six days they died one after the other. The youngest of the siblings, Krushna was the first victim of the virus July 14 at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. Just two days later, Mangaraj breathed his last and then Basudev succumbed to the disease.
The eldest of the five, Dhabaleswar bore the pain stoically. He went out of his way to support the family members of his younger brothers.
Just when the family was coming to terms with the successive tragedies, Dhabaleswar fell ill. Leaving nothing to chance, he immediately underwent the rapid antigen test and the report was negative.
However, he was admitted to the COVID-19 ward of the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Behrampur. This was done because three of his brothers had died due to COVID-19. He was kept under observation. However, his condition suddenly deteriorated Wednesday and he died. Family members are now questioning the authenticity of the rapid antigen test which was conducted.
PNN