Kafan shop owners made their way for online services

Hyderabad: The new trend of indoor delivery services is being seen in Hyderabad city in recent times.

Recently, shops selling funeral material have started offering door delivery of articles used for covering the body and those used which are burial places. There is just a phone call distance between the family of the departed person to the "kafan shops". The shop owners are delivering a funeral article set, comprising around 13 articles in it to the house.

"We took the decision after incidents wherein Covid-19 affected families came out of the house without having knowledge for purchasing funeral items. Later, they came to know that the departed person was Covid-19 positive. To avoid the problem, we started door delivery," said Maollim Sayeed Bin Omer Al Kaseri, who runs a 'kafan shop' Anjuman Faiz ul Muslimeen at Shahalibanda.

Due to the lockdown, there is nearly 30% increase in the prices of articles used during funerals. "Apart from the white cotton cloth, rose water, sandalwood powder, another 10 items are used. Due to the lockdown effect, the prices increased by around 30 per cent. If the present situation continued, the prices would rise further," said Omer Bin Mohammed of Anjuman Khadimul Muslimeen located at Kalapather.

The pandemic situation has forced the 'ghasal' or 'ghasalla' (a male or female who cleanses the dead body) to take all safety measures. They are demanding a PPE kit from the family and enquiring about the cause of death before taking up the job. They also increased the prices from Rs 600 to Rs 1000 when compared to regular times.