Religion no bar; Muslim man performs last rites of homeless Hindu woman [details]

Representatives of religious, social organizations had refused to cremate body due to fear of getting infected.

At this crucial time when some people are abandoning the bodies of their COVID positive family members, a Muslim ambulance drive in the border town of Mendhar in Jammu and Kashmir set an example of humanity by performing the last rites of a Hindu woman. Rising over religion, Mir Ahmad, a native of Mendhar, cremated the body of a homeless non-local mentally unsound Hindu woman, who was mostly found in the main market of this border town.

"We approached locals to cremate the body of the homeless lady but to no avail. When everyone refused to perform last rites due to fear of getting infected, our ambulance driver came forward to cremate the lady as per Hindu rituals," Block Medical Officer (BMO) Mendhar, Dr. P A Khan, told International Business Times. "We are all aware how our Hindu brethren perform last rites so we follow the same rituals for the homeless lady also," Dr. Khan said.

Reports said that after the death of the lady due to COVID, health authorities approached some local religious and social organizations to perform her last rites but to no avail. Instead of convincing these leaders of organizations to come forward, a Muslim ambulance driver came forward and consigned her body to the flames.

Dr. Khan said that two days back, some locals brought the lady to the hospital as she was facing respiratory problems. "As per mandatory protocol we conducted her Corona test and was found positive", Dr. Khan said, adding, "On Wednesday morning she died due to virus".

BMO Takes Initiatives To Conduct Last Rites

After social and religious organizations refused to perform her last rites, BMO constituted a team comprising officials of health departments to cremate the lady. When BMO was assigning different jobs to members of the team, Mir Ahmad volunteered himself to perform the last rites of the lady as per Hindu rituals.

Wearing a PPE kit, Mir performed the last rites of the woman and consigned her to flames. With this humane gesture, he has won the hearts of the people.