India's interfaith volunteers help farewell Covid victims

NEW DELHI, May 15, (AFP) - Suneet Sharma has calmly staged dozens of funerals each day of India's resurgent coronavirus crisis -- but he was overwhelmed when a father arrived at the crematorium with the body of his infant.

The 48-year-old volunteers in New Delhi with a Sikh association, one of many groups to spring up around the country and reach across religious traditions to help bereaved families bid farewell to their loved ones.

The arrival of bodies at cremation and burial grounds has been unrelenting, and teams work long hours in the heat, in protective gear to reduce their exposure to the virus.

Like Sharma, the volunteers from different faiths are willing to take on the emotional and physical toll of carrying out the final rites, driven by a sense of duty. “We are doing it for... mankind, for humanity. That's all. Sometimes it's very, very painful.” Behind him, smoke curled up from crackling funeral pyres and family members of victims stood in protective suits. “We are used to cremating 50 bodies a day, but we never cry. Today, I saw a little girl. Today, we cried,” he said.

Sharma sleeps in his car at night and has not seen his family for months, fearful that he could spread the virus to them.

Syed Ibrahim, a volunteer with a Muslim charity group in Chennai, is also aware of the risks. “Of course I'm scared. This is an extremely contagious disease.”

“In our religion, it's said that God has destined certain things for us... so we bravely take care of the burials and anything else people need from us.” The skyrocketing cost of ambulances has meanwhile led the “Mercy Angels” -- a group of Christian, Hindu and Muslim volunteers in Bangalore -- to help poor families transport bodies to cemeteries and crematoriums.

They prepare graves and offer final prayers according to the religious customs of the dead. “We serve... everybody, be (they) a Hindu, Muslim or Christian,” driver Mohammed Sadiq told AFP.