Meet the Bengaluru volunteer group that gives safe & dignified burials to Covid-19 bodies

A volunteer group called ‘Here I am’ is offering safe and dignified burials to Covid-19 bodies in Bengaluru. The group which was initially started by four-five people in June 2020, has now grown to over 200 members from all communities comprising both men and women, providing services free of cost. They have since arranged the burial of over 1,500 Covid-19 victims, more than 850 of them during the second wave that hit the city in April-May of this year.Story and images by Pushkar V, DHNS

A volunteer group called ‘Here I am’ offers safe and dignified burials to bodies of Covid-19 victims in Bengaluru. The group, which was initially started by four-five people in June 2020, has now grown to over 200 members from all communities comprising both men and women, providing services free of cost.

The volunteer group performs last rites and funerals for those who died of Covid.

They have arranged the burial of over 1,500 Covid-19 victims, more than 850 of them during the second wave that hit the city in April-May of this year.

At 1.30 pm, on a partially overcast day in Bengaluru, a group of youngsters, half-clad in PPE kits, are taking a break as they sit on old tombs to have lunch in the shade of trees at the CSI cemetery in Adugodi.

After a busy first half of the day where they helped bury 5-6 bodies, a few in the group of 20 have to stop eating mid-way as a hearse van with a coffin entered the gate.

The team is divided into four zones - Mysore Road Cemetery, Kalpalli and Ulsoor Cemeteries, Hosur Road Cemetery, and Kodathi Cemetery, with one leader heading their respective group of volunteers.

People from various walks of life from college students, theologists to entrepreneurs and doctors to IT professionals constitute the volunteering group. Anybody is welcome to join the group, the news of their existence which was initially spread through word of mouth and WhatsApp groups.

The recruits are given training about coordinating with their team leaders, handed out phone numbers, instruction about using PPE kits and handling the bodies before assigning and sending them to perform their duties. This apart, ID cards, vehicle passes and safety kits consisting of an Oximeter, thermometer, facial steamer machine, vitamin tablets, gloves, and masks are provided to each volunteer.

Speaking to DH, Rev. Fr Santhosh Royan, the director of Here I Am said that each group is divided into two teams. “The first team reaches homes or hospitals, packs the bodies to shift them to cemeteries in ambulances which are also arranged. The second team stationed at the cemeteries further helps till the body is lowered into a grave along with informing the priests for prayer service. We also provide coffins boxes and ambulance facilities for free to poor families,” he said.

In these unprecedented times, there is mounting confusion among people who are either unable to part-take in final rites due to restrictions or for being infected by the virus themselves, the selfless work that the group has relentlessly been undertaking is satisfying for many, he adds.