UP: Family practices social distancing while performing last rites of loved one

As the country is under the grip of the coronavirus lockdown, a family in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district practised social distancing even while performing the last rites of their loved one.

Aziz, 70, of Kashiram colony had died on Thursday.

The family members carried the body in a handcart and not on shoulders to the burial ground as is the ritual, strictly maintaining the laid down guidelines of social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"We decided to keep the funeral procession as small as possible and only seven people accompanied the body to the burial ground," Guddu, a family member of the deceased, said on Friday.

He said strict adherence was maintained to the social distancing guidelines.

The authorities have prohibited large gatherings in the wake of the lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus.