[throwaway894345]

Per TFA:

> Traditionally, Hindus cremate their dead. But many communities follow what is known as "Jal Pravah" - the practice of floating in the river the bodies of children, unwed girls, or those who die from infectious diseases or snake bites.

> Many poor people also cannot afford cremation, and so they wrap the body in white muslin and push it into the water. Sometimes, the bodies are tied to stones to ensure they remain submerged, but as many are floated without weights. In normal times, corpses floating in the Ganges are not an uncommon sight.

[truth_]

For the non-Indians, the above is very very very uncommon. These are spread after the incidents to save face.

[nandhinianand]

Exactly, they were an ancient practice. while i wouldn't be surprised to see it practiced in remote and poor places, it would've been a negligible minority before COVID-19 times. This framing is just narrative mitigation/down-playing of the magnitude. (May be not deliberately, just misinformation from the sources, but nevertheless.)