Hyderabad, April 30 -- There is no guarantee that even a simple last wish of a crorepati to have his last rites performed in his ancestral village could be fulfilled in COVID-19 times.

A rich gold trader, 48, of Parkal in Rural Warangal tested COVID-19 positive. After fighting a battle of life and death for a week he finally succumbed to his death.

However, during his treatment, the trader told his relatives that in case of his death, his dead body be taken to Dammannapet of Regonda Mandal to perform his last rites.

To fulfil the dead man's last wish, his relatives took his body to Dammannapet. But the villagers stopped the dead body outside the village and refused permission for its last rites due to COVID-19 fear. Even the JCB driver...