Woman Jumps On Funeral Pyre Of Dad Who Died Of COVID-19, Suffers Severe Burns

A 34-year-old woman from Rajasthan, India sustained severe burns after she jumped on the funeral pyre of her father who passed away due to COVID-19.

Chandra Sharda jumped on the pyre of her father, 73-year-old Damodardas Sharda, as his remains were being cremated Wednesday, India Today reported.

According to police, Damodardas passed away at a local hospital Tuesday after contracting COVID-19. Sharda had insisted on going to the crematorium for the last rites.

"Damodardas Sharda had three daughters. His wife passed away some time back. The youngest of the sisters jumped on the funeral pyre," Station House officer of Kotwali police station Prem Prakash said.

Chandra was pulled out of the pyre by people but reportedly suffered around 70% burn injuries. She was rushed to a nearby hospital before being referred to the city of Jodhpur for treatment, police said.

Damodardas, from Rai Colony of Barmer, was admitted to the district hospital Sunday prior to dying due to the virus.

The incident comes as India attempts to deal with a surge of COVID-19 cases.

The country of 1.3 billion people reported a record of 3,780 deaths and 382,315 new infections Wednesday, pushing India's overall death toll to more than 220,000.

The rise in deaths has forced people to create makeshift funeral pyres in available spaces like parking lots and public parks as crematoriums are working over capacity non-stop.

In Hinduism, the country's most dominant religion, cremation is traditionally the most important part of the funeral rites because Hindus believe the body must be destroyed to force the soul to separate from it.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration announced Wednesday its support for the idea of a global waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, potentially speeding up production and access to the life-saving doses.

Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that while intellectual property rights for businesses are important, Washington "supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines."

"This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures," she said in a statement.

Additionally, other emergency medical aid such as oxygen arrived from foreign donors Sunday to help deal with the wave of cases.