Kodagu police have begun a search for the missing mobile phone of a COVID-19 victim, after the victim's daughter filed a complaint asking for the phone to be returned since it contained photos and memories of her mother. Hrithiksha, the 9-year-old daughter of a daily wage worker in Kushalnagar of Kodagu district, lost her mother Prabha on May 16 after she succumbed to COVID-19 at the COVID-19 hospital in Madikeri. Hrithiksha's heartbreaking plea asking for the phone to be returned was shared widely on social media with many users asking the police to take swift action.
"The phone was switched off when we tried calling her on Saturday (May 15) and the next day we were told she (Prabha) had died. We asked for the phone to be given back again but we were told by the hospital that it was missing. We have not got the mobile back yet," Hrithiksha's aunt Akshitha told TNM. "Hrithiksha has been crying and asking for the mobile to be returned since the phone has a lot of photos of her mother," she said.
Hrithiksha is a class 4 student in Kushalnagar. Her mother fell ill two weeks ago and was hospitalised in Madikeri after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Hrithiksha, daughter of a daily wage worker in Kushalnagar, lost her mother to Covid-19 on May 16. She is requesting people who might have taken her mother’s mobile at Covid hospital in Madikeri to give it back. She says that mobile has a lot of memories of her mother. pic.twitter.com/5lSJ4Yrhav
— santhosh babu (@hypnobaba) May 23, 2021
Kodagu police confirmed that a complaint was registered and that they were searching for the missing phone. "We have taken up the complaint and we are contacting the hospital about the missing phone," Kodagu SP Kshama Mishra told TNM.
Police officials in Madikeri, where the COVID-19 hospital in the district is located, and Kushalnagar are coordinating the search for the phone. "We have asked the family to remain in Kushalnagar and taken the complaint in the police station there. We are tracing the phone on priority," a police official in Madikeri said.