Muslims perform last rites of Sikh woman

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, February 17

Muslim families of tubewell colony in Malerkotla performed the last rites of Sikh woman Rani (55), a divorcee who died on Saturday, as per Sikh tenets. After her death, when none turned up from her family, her neighbours — all Muslims — pooled in money for the cremation.

The body was cremated on Sunday and the ashes were immersed in a canal the next day. An “akhand path” will be organised in a local gurdwara and the “bhog” ceremony will be on Sunday.

“Rani got divorced 15 years ago. Since then, she had been staying in tubewell colony here in a rented accommodation owned by a Muslim family. She used to work as a maid. For the past some days, she was unwell and passed away on Saturday,” said Aslam, a resident of ward no 9.

Since her neighbours did not know of the Sikh tenets, they informed the police and expressed their willingness to perform the last rites. On Saturday evening, the police placed the body in a Malerkotla mortuary. When none turned up, Muslims pooled in money and requested the police for permission to cremate the body.

Some neighbours of the deceased told The Tribune that Rani was famous as “Rani aunty”.

SI Nirbhay Singh from the Malerkotla-1 police station said, “The police followed the legal procedure. The body was kept in a local hospital. When no one turned up to claim the body, she was cremated as per Sikh tenets.”