Chennai, The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday warned that preventing the burial/cremation of bodies of persons who died of notified contagious disease is an offence punishable with a jail term of one to three years.

In a statement issued here, the government said it has passed an ordinance whereby those who block the decent burial/cremation of bodies of persons who had died due to notified diseases will be punished under Tamil Nadu Public Health Act.

Such punishable offence would attract a fine, jail term of minimum one year and a maximum of three years.

The ordinance has been passed after people started blocking burial/cremation of Covid-19 patients fearing spread of coronavirus in their locality.