Covid burials cross many odds

Volunteers recount their brushes with the disease and difficult burials

Covid funerals are highly regulated ordeals with a large safety risk. While BBMP is incharge of the rules and regulations, multiple organisations such as the Mercy Angels and the Almighty Foundation have taken charge of the activity.

Mohamed Irfan, volunteer with Mercy Mission, explains that most people who call them expect the entire procedure of the funeral, from the transportation of the body to the last rites to be performed by them. “With most cases, the family of the victim is under quarantine and would not be able to conduct a funeral. At times, they may even be out-of-state,” he says.

If the victim has no immediate family member the hospital takes charge of procuring the necessary documents and informs the volunteer organisations.

Funerals usually take place from 4 am to 7pm. “We usually get calls in the evening, we ask the family to use this time to arrange the documentation and the burial then happens in the morning,” he explains.

Funerals can be an expensive affair and Syed Risalath Jah (Tuffu) founded the Almighty Foundation to combat that. The organisation does everything for free.

“I was involved in organising ration kits for the underprivileged near Tannery Road area when I was called to help with the burial of a friend’s mother. The BBMP took care of that funeral and I watched and learned the procedure from them,” he says.

He says that doing burial services has given him extensive knowledge about the burial traditions of communities across the city.

He has run into slight friction only with Christian burials. “Many Christians already have a plot of land at their local cemetery that is to be used by the family after death. Many a time these plots are in areas filled with other
gravestones and burials. This makes it difficult for us to maneuver a JCB for the digging. This means that we would have to dig an eight feet hole by ourselves,” he explains.

Cremation or burials

While there have been reports of cremations being preferred due to the nature of the pandemic, organisations on-ground say the preference remains the same as earlier. “People pick what their family has been following or what their religion mandates,” says Tuffu.

Health risks

Burials are not without risks and no one knows that better that Taffu. He has recently recovered from Covid-19 after catching it during a burial. “We get the bodies in bags which no one is allowed to open. At one funeral I stepped away for a minute and I saw the son of the victim had opened it up, I quickly went to shut it. Unfortunately that day there was a small tear in my glove,” he explains.

Thanks to his essential worker status he got a test as soon as he developed symptoms and was home quarantined. While he is now good his wife has tested positive. He still continues to provide services as he believes there are many who desperately require it.

Religious rites

The Almighty Foundation has three maulvis on their team and founder Tuffu is also equipped to perform the last rites for Muslims.

“Since I’m not well-versed with the proceedings for the other religions I ask the family to guide me with them and I happily oblige. If they require a religious figure they are to contact one on their own,” he says.

Irfan from the Mercy Angels too says the responsibility for contacting the religious figure generally lies with the family as each person has a different requirement.

“We also have a repository of contacts, so the family can reach out if they have any trouble finding someone,” he adds.