Holding a small wooden box containing his father's ashes, Liu Pei'en burst into tears, but he did not have much time to grieve.

Liu said officials from Wuhan City, Hubei Province were determined to accompany him to the funeral home and wait near. Later, they followed Liu to the cemetery again, witnessing his father's burial. One of Liu's followers photographed the funeral, the process took only 20 minutes.

"My father spent his whole life serving the country, only to be monitored after his death. Where is the dignity of the dead? Where is the love of the dead?", The 44-year-old man wondered.

In recent months, Wuhan residents were not allowed to accept the ashes of loved ones who died from nCoV infection. After announcing that the pandemic was under control, the government urged them to bury their loved ones quickly and quietly, and sent people to watch the process of sending off victims and families with deceased people. .

The government censorship team has also been accused of deleting images on social media that show Wuhan residents lined up at funeral homes to claim ashes. City police also dispersed groups on the WeChat messaging app, founded by relatives of Covid-19 victims.

The Chinese government said it was trying to prevent a crowd of people so that the disease would not break out again. However, according to NY Times commentators Amy Qin and Cao Li, the current tight control appears to be part of an effort to evade rage over the early mistakes and concealment of the disease. of the government. Images in Wuhan or discussions appearing on social media could also raise doubts about China's Covid-19 data.

Wuhan accounts for nearly two-thirds of nCoV infections in China and more than three-quarters of deaths. But in the first weeks of the pandemic, health officials said many patients had to go home despite symptoms because the hospital lacked a bed and test kit, leaving many dead because Covid-19 was not included in the data. official.

The controversy over the actual number of deaths from nCoV in China has recently sparked after Caixin, a financial magazine in Beijing, posted photos of some 3,500 jars of ashes stacked on top of each other in funeral homes in Wuyi. Han also quoted a driver as saying that he had transported about 5,000 jars of ashes on March 25 and 26. Meanwhile, China has reported more than 3,300 deaths from nCoV and more than 81,600 cases.

However, Beijing insists it is open and transparent about the size of the pandemic. Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Sa Ye said on April 1 that in addition to more than 2,500 people died from Covid-19, Wuhan also recorded about 10,000 deaths from other causes. He explained that the blockade order was imposed on January 23, making many people unable to receive ashes of their loved ones, resulting in long queues at the funeral home.

China also seems to be trying to defuse the situation by pursuing doctors who died in the fight against Covid-19 as martyrs, instead of considering them victims of the epidemic. On April 4, on the occasion of the clarification of Thanh Minh, the government also organized a national funeral for thousands of deaths during the pandemic.

However, three minutes of mindfulness may not be enough for families in Wuhan to ease the pain. Many have voiced justice and accountability from the authorities, hoping their relatives do not have to die in silence. Their backlash prompted authorities in February to fire two senior local officials, but did not mention further investigations.

"I ask for an explanation. Otherwise, I cannot see off my father and will never feel safe," said Zhang Hai, the son of a man who died from Covid-19. Zhang wanted to know why authorities for weeks did not tell the public that the virus could be transmitted from person to person.

Meanwhile, other residents of Wuhan try to find their own way to commemorate relatives in private. Maria Ma, 23, said her grandparents died in January and their bodies were quickly cremated. In the 49-day worship ceremony, besides burning votive papers, the men in the family cut their hair to commemorate the deceased, according to traditional customs.

Ma said the family felt guilty for not being able to organize an appropriate funeral like their grandparents' wishes before leaving. "We are constantly wondering why this happened to our family. We are just ordinary people and have never done bad things to anyone," she said.

The Wuhan government provides families with approximately US $ 420 for each relative who died during the pandemic, regardless of the cause of death. Relatives of Covid-19 victims receive a 30% discount on burial land and free cremation services.

For some people like Peng Bangwen, this grant did not help him fulfill his wish. Peng wanted to bury his father, who died in early February, at an ancestral home outside of Wuhan. However, the village authorities did not accept it, because they did not want the ashes of a Covid-19 patient buried there.

"Whether quiet, peaceful or noisy and elaborate, I just want the funeral to be taken care of. Otherwise it is too cruel for both me and my father," the 32-year-old man said.

Others, like Liu Pei'en, are seeking the compensation they deserve. In January, his father went to a hospital in Wuhan for a routine checkup and nCoV infection, then died on January 29. In his sorrow, Liu went to a Buddhist monk, spent some evenings quietly praying for his father.

Late last month, Liu received a call from the authorities informing him of the burial. He was assigned two officials, one from his father's father's agency and the other from the neighborhood committee, to assist in the funeral process. They went with Liu to a cemetery southwest of the city, where he picked an expensive plot of land to the south for $ 14,000.

The funeral takes place two days after selecting the land. Blank slabs not placed above the burial site only have a sticker labeled "row 24, number 19", the tombstone will be delivered later. "It's like a doorless home," Liu said.

After the funeral ended, officials asked the family to sign a form to certify that they had completed the task.

Two days later, Liu returned to the cemetery alone and sat by his father's grave for an hour. "Please wait for me and my mother. One day we will be reunited in my father's new home," he said.

Liu said he would continue to press the government to punish local officials responsible for hiding the initial epidemic, and at the same time compensating the families of the victims.

"They think I will ignore it when the burial is completed? No. I haven't finished my job yet," Liu said.