79-year-old Ludhiana man volunteers to cremate COVID-infected after families refuse to accept bodies

Minna Zutshi
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, April 12

A 79-year-old man in Ludhiana offered his services to the district administration for performing the last rites of those who die of COVID-19 after he was moved by reports that families refused to cremate them.

“Look at the magnitude of human tragedy. The fear of contracting COVID-19 has weakened human relationships. In some cases doting and affectionate children are refusing to perform the last rites of their COVID-infected mother or father and the immediate family too is refusing to attend the funeral services of their COVID-infected dead relative,” says Mewa Singh who retired from the service of the Punjab Government in 1999.

Singh calls the situation "sad and almost inhuman".

"The fear psychosis has taken over the feelings of love and belongingness. The fear of pandemic has become so strong and entrenched that some villages are reluctant to cremate the COVID-infected deceased in the village crematorium," says the 79-year-old.

Singh has urged the Deputy Commissioner and the Civil Surgeon that his services may be enlisted for the cases where the family refuses to perform the last rites of the COVID-infected deceased.

“Apart from Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that helps in preventing the transmission of the virus, I do not require anything else for performing these services,” he says.