SATARA/LUCKNOW : Ashok Khondare, a 39-year-old vegetable seller in the western Indian city of Pune, had already borrowed money to pay for his sister's treatment when she died in a private hospital two weeks after contacting COVID-19.While trying to overcome the tragedy, he also had to deal with money problems that increased with his sister's death.The only available hearse driver charged 5,000 Indian rupees ($68) for a 6-km (four-mile) journey to the nearest crematorium – five times the going rate.
When Khondare reached there, there was a long queue of dead bodies and waits of more than a day. He agreed to pay another 7,000 rupees to jump the queue."I had been experiencing a terrible situation for a fortnight," he said. "I couldn't sleep or.