It was 2019. Months before a lethal virus snatched away over five lakh lives in the country. These were the deaths that were accounted for by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in official documents. But some like Sankapaka Ramalu, who died in Saudi Arabia where he had gone in search of a job, only live on in their families’ memories. Ramalu’s remains have still not been returned to his wife, Lakshmi and son, Harish, who live in a cramped one-bedroom house in Nagireddipur village in Karimnagar district of Telangana. Harish has his own family of two but little means to support them. “We know he has died…but how will our conscience be clear until we see his remains?” asks Lakshmi, her eyes welling up.