‘Ambulance Man’ helps cremate victims
AMID the increasing number of people dying of Covid-19 in Delhi, getting an ambulance to transport the body from the hospital to the crematorium has become difficult.
However, a resident nicknamed the “Ambulance Man of Delhi” has come to the rescue of those who want to cremate the bodies of family members when hospital staff refuse to touch them for fear of getting infected with Covid-19.
Chiranjeev Malhotra lives in the Karol Bagh area. He has helped families to cremate the bodies of 1200 people.
His daughter tries to restrain him but Malhotra believes that if everyone stays at home during the pandemic, there will be no one to cremate their loved ones.
Since the resurgence of Covid-19 infections, Malhotra has been cremating more than 30 bodies a day. This includes cremating people who do not have families.
“I have cremated 500 to 600 corpses of Covid-19 victims. We also cremate the unclaimed bodies,” said Malhotra.
He transports the bodies in his own ambulance to the crematorium from the hospital and performs the last rites with full rituals.
If people are not able to pay, he does not ask for money. He instead buys all the materials required for the last rites.
“In the case of a whole family being infected with Covid-19, we come forward to help such families. There are many people who live abroad, but if a family member has died here, we also perform their last rites.
“We have issued a helpline number. We have started this service since last year. We have also started an NGO, the Sant Shiv Seva Foundation. Our service is available free of charge.
“We have five ambulances which are being used only to bring the bodies for the funerals. If we have to transport any body from one place to another, we also help people with that.”
Malhotra owns a wire-making factory but in difficult times, he has given up everything to help people. |