The number of people dying either in ambulances and while waiting for beds has shown an upward trend over the past few days in Hyderabad putting pressure on voluntary organisations for disposal of bodies. “Finding beds has become a big challenge. We are losing a number of critical patients as their relatives struggle to find ICU beds or beds with ventilator facility,” says Mujtaba Askari of Helping Hand Foundation (HHF). His organisation has been responsible for helping families conduct funerals of their loved ones with dignity. “We have conducted about 150 funerals over the past few days,” he says.
Complicating the problem, touts outside hospitals are demanding ₹ 40,000 to ₹ 50,000 to dispose of bodies of COVID victims, making it difficult for the next of kin. Multiple audio conversations with men posing as workers of the civic body are now available, showing how family members are being coerced to part with large sums of money for funerals. “The funerals are free if the government conducts them. But these touts are spreading a canard about unknown bodies being cremated. So, families are reaching out to us,” says Sai Teja Katragada of Feed The Needy. “The private hospitals are asking families to take home the bodies of COVID victims which is not correct due to COVID protocol. We are being forced to hire freezer boxes after shelling out ₹ 30,000 to ₹ 40,000 per day,” says Mr. Katragada, whose organisation has conducted 375 funerals till now.
“The biggest problem we are facing is cremating the bodies of Hindus. We are forced to pay ₹ 15,000 to ₹ 25,000. Families are being asked to pay between ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 45,000. The rain over the past few days has further aggravated the problem,” says Syed Jalaluddin Zafar whose organisation has conducted 1,900 funerals across the State over the past few months.
“Two days ago, we were called by an autorickshaw driver whose mother had passed away. He had ₹ 7000 and the ambulance driver asked for ₹ 8,000 to transport the body to the burial ground. When we arranged the transport, his younger brother who lived next door refused to open the door. The autodriver, his three daughters and my men carried the body and carried out the funeral rites as per the family’s tradition,” says Zafar, a publisher of textbooks. He began working on COVID relief during the first phase by distributing food to the needy. But it changed one day when he received a call for help from a girl who father passed away and her brother ran away fearing the stigma. From that fateful day till now, Mr. Zafar and his team have battled greedy graveyard caretakers, cremation ground managers and stigma to ensure dignified funerals.
