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KATHMANDU: Four women in protective gear lift the body of a COVID-19 victim at the Pashupati crematorium in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and hand it over to crematorium workers – an unimaginable scene in the conservative country in recent years. years.
Women touching a corpse is still a cultural taboo in Nepal. But women’s rights have improved since the Hindu-majority country emerged from a decade-long conflict in 2006 and abolished its century-old feudal monarchy two years later.
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The women transporting bodies in Kathmandu, all soldiers, are being deployed for the first time as the nation of 30 million people tries to handle the bodies of COVID-19 victims amid the growing pandemic.
“I feel privileged and happy to have the opportunity to do the work that until now only men did,” said one of the women, a 25-year-old corporal named Rachana, who asked to be identified by a single person. Name.
“Society is changing … I have not been with my family since I started my new duty, but my friends are happy. They thank me and say: ‘You have carried out a difficult task with care and you have maintained your personal safety. Thank you.'” . . I feel happy.”
On their first day of work last month, the four moved six bodies from a hospital to a crematorium.
Nepal Army spokesman Shantosh B Poudyal said the 95,000-strong force was assigning female soldiers to new roles, as part of a program to empower them.
“Women were deployed in combat tasks, hospitals, artillery, engineers and disasters before. This is the first time they have handled the bodies from hospitals and transported them to the crematorium, “Poudyal told Reuters. “You can say that it is breaking the borders … breaking the glass ceiling.”
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Nepal’s military is responsible for managing the bodies of coronavirus victims across the country.
The pandemic has killed 1,508 people in the country and infected 233,452 since the virus was first detected in January, according to official data.
On Monday (November 30), 29 people were reported to have died from COVID-19, the highest number of daily deaths since November 4, data from the Health Ministry showed.
Keeping track of infections and deaths is challenging, as the evidence is limited and experts say the actual numbers could be much higher than the official data. A panel is investigating discrepancies, authorities say.
Health workers say the pandemic will only get worse as winter sets in and limited health infrastructure stretches, including critical care beds.
Outside the Pashupati cremation house, weeping relatives threw marigolds and vermilion powder over an iron fence onto a white shroud that covered the body of a 58-year-old man.
Three other bodies, with their name and age tags pinned to the bags, lay on the ground next to a white hearse while crematory workers worked after midnight.
“It is my duty to remove the corpses and I am proud of what I am doing,” said Krishna Kumari, another soldier in the group.
The 37-year-old sergeant added: “The job is physically demanding … and we have shown that women are capable of difficult tasks during the pandemic.”
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