Funeral of Covid patients proves to be challenging

Social stigma regarding Covid-19 runs so deep that despite the bodies of patients of the disease being completely packed and sanitisation, burial grounds and crematoria are difficult to find to perform the last rites. The waiting time can be as long as 12 hours before families find a graveyard willing to accommodate their dead.

Those who die in hospitals in Hyderabad are not allowed to cremate or bury their dead in the districts. Within the city, the graveyards want the Aadhaar card for residence proof of the deceased person and hospital papers.

The body of a 40-year-old man was taken to his native village in Suryapet district but the villagers refused entry and it had to be brought back to the city. The man’s body was finally cremated on the outskirts in Ranga Reddy district.

In another case, a 74year-old resident of Shaikpet, a suspected Covid-19 patient, died within four hours of admission at a hospital. His body was released at 11 pm but the burial ground refused permission to bury it. The family took the body home.

After innumerable calls. the family managed to make arrangements to bury the body at Balapur. The time was fixed at 5.30 am. When the family reached there with the body, they were asked to get permission from the local police and municipal corporator. The body was kept outside the gate till another round of calls were completed, and only after that was the burial done.

Families are having to call the local corporator, MLA and even the MP for help as demands are being made by crematorium and burial ground managements which they are unable to understand. Non-government organisations that are facilitating families to perform the last rites are asking for some empathy to be shown to the bereaved families, and respect for the dead.

A person whose parents died the same day said: “My mother died due to Covid-19 in the hospital. By the time I collected her body, my father’s condition turned serious. I left my mother’s body at home and went to attend to my father, only to be handed over his body. I had to bury both of them and it took me six hours to find a place and `50,000 for all the procedures. The money was for the place, labour and additional expenses as there were two Covid-19 bodies. I was scared to ask any questions as what mattered was finding a place to bury them.”

In many other cases, the hearse drivers are either burying the dead or performing the last rites as family members are not present for various reasons.

A driver on condition of anonymity said, “Since the last one month we are seeing lots of objections being raised to perform the last rites, either from local people or from groups who are closing the gates and demanding clearance from the police and local leaders.”

He said the bodies are sanitised and packed properly but “no one is willing to listen.”

He said that in some cases there are only two or one family members with the body and the ambulance staff have to assist in performing the last rites. “Fear and stigma are making the last journey very difficult.”

In the electric crematoria there are huge lines, and the waiting time is six to eight hours.

After proper checking, four persons are allowed inside while the others have to wait outside. Crematoria that are surrounding by housing colonies or gated communities are refusing to take the Covid-19 bodies.