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Funerals in a pandemic: How Covid and lockdown are depriving loved ones of a final goodbye

Guidelines permit only 20 relatives for the funeral of a non-coronavirus victim and just 5 for the rituals of those who have died of Covid-19.

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New Delhi: On a sunny Friday afternoon, Mohammad Javed and his brother (who didn’t want to be named) were concealed behind PPE suits at Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam graveyard near Delhi Gate. 

Behind them were rows of hastily dug graves — all of them in the zone earmarked for victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The two men were waiting for the body of their 55-year-old cousin, who had died of coronavirus-related complications a day earlier. The onus was on them to give the 55-year-old a proper burial as they are the only family members present at the cemetery. 

Mohammad Javed in a PPE suit at the New Cemetery for Mohammedans | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint
Mohammad Javed in a PPE suit at Delhi Gate’s Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam graveyard | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint

The coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown to tackle it have fundamentally altered the way funerals are being held across the country. No longer are they elaborate grieving affairs, with funerals being held with little or no families, even when the victim has not died of Covid-19.  

The Centre’s guidelines, drawn up in March, permit only 20 people with physical distancing for non-Covid funerals and only five people for the rituals of those who have died of Covid-19.  

They also prohibit bathing or embalming the corpse of a Covid-19 victim and ban relatives from kissing or hugging the body.    

There are strict norms for the process itself involving Covid-19 victims, explains Mohammad Shameem, the cemetery supervisor.   

“The family has to procure PPE kits. A JCB machine has to be booked to drill a 10-12 feet long grave,” Shameem said. “Hospital workers take the body out of the ambulance and five family members are allowed to lower the body into the grave. We only guide the family.”  

Shameem, a third-generation grave digger, told ThePrint that he was initially hesitant to handle the Covid-19 section but has since “realised he couldn’t say no to his job”.  

“We already have over 50 coronavirus infected and suspected cases buried in a two-acre section of the graveyard,” Shameem said on Friday. “On Tuesday we had eight coronavirus bodies, on Wednesday and Thursday it’s come down to two a day. This is the only coronavirus burial today.” 

A JCB at the New Cemetery for Mohemeddans | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint
A JCB at Delhi Gate’s Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam graveyard | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint

No different at cremation grounds 

As of Monday, Delhi has 4,549 Covid-19 cases and 64 deaths.  

The last rites of the bulk of the 64 victims have been performed at the Nigam Bodh Ghat in Jamuna Bazar, one of the largest crematoria in Delhi.  

The Covid-19 section at Nigam Bodh Ghat | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint
The Covid-19 section at Nigam Bodh Ghat | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint

The crematorium is among six — two crematoria, two burial grounds and two cemeteries — that have been earmarked to carry out the last rites of Covid-19 patients. 

Authorities here say that even those who are suspected to have died of Covid-19 are cremated separately along with those officially designated as coronavirus victims. 

So far, around 50 bodies have been sent to the Ghat, including 15 suspected of being infected by the coronavirus.   

The workload has been overwhelming, as the crematorium also caters to non-Covid patients, that authorities have also designated the crematorium in Punjabi Bagh for Covid-19 deaths. Punjabi Bagh has conducted 14 cremations of patients of Covid-19 and those suspected of having died of the infection. 

Naresh Ahuja, the supervisor at the Nigam Bodh Ghat, told ThePrint that a separate area has been allocated for Covid-19 deaths.  

“Only CNG is used; no wooden sticks are allowed. The coronavirus section has six incinerators and we sanitise the area before the next body comes in,” he said. “Relatives of the deceased have to lower the body into the incinerators; crematorium staff only operate the machine.” 

CNG incinerators for Covid-19 patients at Nigam Bodh Ghat | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint
CNG incinerators for Covid-19 patients at Nigam Bodh Ghat | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint

North MCD Commissioner Varsha Joshi told ThePrint that there are strict rules for the crematorium as well. “Only two attendants from the hospital and two family members are permitted inside the CNG crematorium for Covid-19 cases,” she said, adding that supervisors have to ensure social distancing is maintained in non-Covid cases. 

On Friday, ThePrint witnessed the funeral of a Covid-19 victim whose rituals were conducted by a single family member. Three ambulance staff and two personnel from the crematorium helped out the lone relative.  

“Nobody had accompanied him. We are not allowed to touch the body once we reach the crematorium but since he is alone, crematorium staff are helping him,” said Bunty, the ambulance driver for BLK Kapoor Hospital. 


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In the name of a ‘safer’ funeral

The pandemic has also made it tougher for those whose kin are dying due to non-coronavirus related diseases.  

Take the case of Mohammad Iqbal of Daryaganj who lost his father to old-age on 31 March. Forced to get funeral passes from the police, Iqbal shared how 30 relatives from his village in Uttar Pradesh wanted to be present. 

“The police told me it wasn’t possible,” Iqbal said, adding that eventually only eight people attended the funeral.

At the Nigam Bodh Ghat, Sharad Dogra, who lives in Noida, said he was attending a relative’s funeral after much hassle.    

“We live in Noida but my wife’s nephew died of a heart attack in Delhi. I tried to get a pass to come to Delhi at my nearest police station but they asked me to go to the city magistrate’s office,” Dogra said.  

The couple said they were only allowed to cross the border after they showed police photos of the nephew’s dead body. “Now we have to show the Ghat receipt at the border so we can return home,” he added.

It is these passes, required due to the lockdown, that other families too are complaining of. 

“My mother passed away on 20 April. I had to get a permission letter from the local MLA Amanatullah Khan to perform the last rites,” said Shazeb who had come to the Batla House Cemetery from the nearby Gulmohar enclave. 

On the logic behind seeking a politician’s permission, Mohammad Yusuf, Batla House Cemetery owner, said, “The gravediggers started this in fear. When I got to know, I put an end to it.”  

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, on the other hand, said this was only being followed during the pandemic. “What if they bring a Covid-related body here? We just prefer to sign a letter, but we create no trouble,” he told ThePrint.

The lockdown is also affecting a fundamental aspect of Hindu last rites — the immersion of ashes. 

Families who want to take ashes to Haridwar have left them in lockers at the crematoria irrespective of whether the bodies were those of Covid-19 victims.  

Pandit Mishra, supervisor at Lodhi Crematorium, which is not Covid-19 designated, said all 200 lockers at the facilities were full. “We have started labelling the ashes, and hand over a copy of the numbered label to the families,” he said.  

Notice stating that the locker for ashes is full at the Nigam Bodh Ghat | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint
Notice stating that the locker for ashes is full at the Nigam Bodh Ghat | Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta | ThePrint

But some families have no option but to say goodbye to a loved one on a livestream. A 32-year-old Alaknanda resident, who lost her grandfather amid the lockdown, paid respects to the 85-year-old who passed away in Gujarat over a Zoom video call with her parents in Mumbai. “The Zoom link, an impersonal code, made up of a seemingly random list of numbers, is now the way we mourn,” the granddaughter told ThePrint requesting anonymity.


Also read: Delhi govt stays order asking staff at non-Covid hospitals to explain how they got infected


 

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