Pune: Muslim volunteers perform last rites of aged Hindu deceased man after his family refused

Mehab Qureshi

Pune, May 15, 2020: With the spread of Coronavirus around the state and within the city, COVID-19 has changed all the lives around us, People have become more sensitive toward the society, and the value of life has been substantially increased. Coronavirus doesn’t infect based on caste, religion, community or culture but has uniquely bonded people.

To support this, here comes a story of Muslim volunteers cremating aged Hindu deceased. On Wednesday, an 80-year-old man from Dias Plot near Gultekdi passed away due to age-related illness. Terrified of being dead by COVID 19, the neighbours shunned him. They disagreed to help and the deceased Namdeo Pandurang Kamble’s son and daughter-in-law also refused to cremate him. The deceased man did not show any symptoms of COVID -19, also his medical reports didn’t show any such signs.

Eventually, a group of Muslim men- Jameer Momin, Amjad Shaikh, Ibrahim Shaikh Sabir Sayyed, Anjum Inamdar and Sabir Topkhane, among others took the lead and performed the cremation with all Hindu rituals. They were provided personal protection equipment (PPE) kit. The consent of the son was sought to perform the ceremony. “It was not easy to perform the last rites as no family member was willing to come forward. We checked the medical reports, which were all on our own. We tried to convince his son to go ahead with it, but he was also scared”, said Momin, a local resident.

Amjad Shaikh added, “Finally, we approached Maharshi Nagar police chowky, Swargate police station, and narrated the ordeal. The cops informed us that only relatives have the rights to perform such last rites. We took consent of the deceased’s son and with the help of local activist Gowardhan Khude, we completed the requisite Hindu rituals and cremated the body at Dhobi Ghat crematorium.”