The array of packed bodies arranged on the ground in front of the mortuary of Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia Government General Hospital painted a grim picture.
Though hailing from varied family backgrounds, socio-economic strata, caste and religion, all of them reached the morgue as dead bodies, with their kin not in a position to perform the last rites. In a moving gesture, the government arranged to perform last rites to the 21 persons who died of COVID-19. The bodies were offered garlands and the rituals performed according to their social customs.
MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, who conducted the final rites by donning a PPE suit, carried the bodies in a procession. He expressed regret over the manner in which even blood relatives, gripped with a sense of fear and guilt, were watching the rituals from a distance. “When an entire family dies, the bodies lie unclaimed. This is not an economic issue, but a humanitarian issue. We have to get rid of the scare and give a decent farewell to the deceased, of course, by taking precautionary measures”, he added. Mr. Reddy got infected with COVID-19 twice last year.
Maha Prasthanam, a Rotary Club-supported organisation took care of performing final rites to Hindu bodies, while Muslim JAC shouldered the responsibility of burying the bodies of their community members.
