Vijayawada: Muslim youth perform last rites of abandoned Covid victims

Vijayawada: Every person needs respectful farewell in the last journey. But due to Corona pandemic, some people are not coming forward to perform the last rites to the victims of the deadly virus even in their families. The problem is severe in case of elderly people, whose children are far away and have been settled in other states or the other countries.

Keeping in view of the plight being faced by many families in performing the funeral or burial, some youth in Machilipatnam are conducting the last rites to give respectful farewell to deserted bodies.

Syed Khaja Mohiddin and his friends Abdul Aziz, Khaleel, Basha, Nasar and Azeem have performed the last rites of 45 bodies in the second wave of Covid in three months. Syed Khaja, 34, is doing real estate business in Machilipatnam. He observed that some families faced many hardships to perform the last rites of the deceased. He noticed that the family members, neighbours and close relatives are not coming forward to perform the funeral due to Covid infection as it is spreading very fast in the second wave.

Khaja and his friends decided to conduct the last rites of the deceased irrespective of caste and religion. Khaja said, "In the first wave, we performed about 35 funerals and arranged food to many migrant workers and needy as the lockdown continued many months.

He said they have 45 funerals performed in the second wave till now. Khaja who is president of the Andhra Pradesh Muslim Welfare Organisation's Krishna district unit, said only one or two members from a family are attending the funerals of the Covid victims. The funeral is expensive affairs. Sometimes the ambulance drivers ask high charges. Volunteer Khaleel, 28, and runs a readymade garments shop in Machilipatnam, said they are conducting funerals to do service. "Everything is in the hands of Allah and He will save us from the virus," he said. He said the volunteers are taking precautions like wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, using sanitizers to get protected from the virus.

The second wave of Covid is spreading very fast and more and more people are being infected by the virus and many die. The volunteers are shifting the bodies in ambulances and other vehicles to the burial grounds and Hindu crematoria to give respectful farewell in the last journey.

Syed Khaja said the last rites are being performed as per the religion and customs in the presence of one or two family members.