A fast filling cemetery, unmarked graves and a couple of good souls
NEW DELHI: From disposing of used PPE kits and safety gear to making sure that every family that comes to bury their loved ones in the Delhi Gate Cemetery has the most comforting experience, Mohammad Wasim and his assistant Iliyas have been burying COVID-19 dead bodies day in and day out. While Wasim reads the prayers before and after the burial, Iliyas is responsible for making sure all materials are arranged for the send-off.
In his late 20s, Hamad zoomed into the New Mohammedan Cemetery near Delhi Gate on Saturday afternoon on his bike. Clad in a white shirt and jeans, he started scanning the large section of the cemetery where all COVID-19 protocol burials take place. “He’s trying to find his father’s grave. We buried him here a few days ago,” Wasim said.
On Saturday, by 3 pm, six bodies had already been buried in the cemetery with Wasim, who is a Delhi Waqf Board worker, saying that a total of 306 bodies had been buried at the cemetery so far. “But most people often have to rush the burial and with no means to place a gravestone or marker on the grave, they have a hard time identifying the grave of their loved ones,” Iliyas said, as he was arranging for a few branches to somehow mark the grave of Hamad’s father.
The 20-something-year-old man’s father was buried two days ago. “But it was just Hamad and his brother. They did not have any other family member and were having a hard time dealing with the loss,” Wasim said as he guided Hamad to his father’s grave.
Wasim and Iliyas had made sure that Hamad and his brother are at the very least given the opportunity to grieve the loss of their father in peace. “These boys from Shaheen Bagh did not even know what to do. Iliyas and I made sure we wrapped the body up properly and then helped them lower it into the grave,” Wasim added, just as another family was trying to figure out the logistics of lowering their aunt’s dead body into a nearby grave.
Many families who come to the cemetery to bury their dead are not aware of the logistics and are often left to lower the dead bodies of their families into the graves themselves. While the ambulances make sure that the dead body is protected and leave it at the ground, it is up to the family members and cemetery workers like Wasim to lower the body into the grave. While some families bring rope-like white cloth pieces to tie the body and lower it, some others do not and Wasim arranges for it.
The lone JCB machine in the graveyard keeps digging graves all day, with space already running out. “Today has been slow. We usually have north of 10 bodies every day and so far the most has been 15,” Wasim said, adding that they have also had to bury many people who did not have any family. “A few weeks ago a 14-15-year-old girl’s body was brought here by a cop. We made sure she was laid to rest properly,” he said, rushing to read prayers for the family who had just buried their aunt.
By the time, Wasim and Iliyas had burned the PPE kits, gloves and face shields used by the family and walked off to catch a breath under a tree, another ambulance rushed into the cemetery as Wasim got back to work arranging a spot for the next family and preparing materials. Iliyas, wielding a bottle of hand sanitiser and just a mask over his face, rushed to the family.