The ground reality of the last rites of Covid victims is just devastating. Long struggle in claiming the bodies from hospitals, challenges of finding suitable burial grounds and reaching there can be tough.

Indian Express

Recently, a retired police officer in Delhi succumbed to Covid-19. He was Christian by faith.

Challenges creeped in when his daughter and wife were unable to go the hospital to receive his body as they were in home quarantine. The relatives they trusted reportedly refused to help and neighbours shut their doors to the family.

TOI

The mother-daughter duo somehow managed to get permission from local police and reached the hospital by around 5 in the evening. No cabs agreed to take them to the burial ground with the dead body of a Covid victim.

And the rest is a tale of humanity.

Indian Express

The family called up a Muslim auto driver, Hussain, who agreed to drop them to the burial ground. 

A basic Christian burial includes a prayer service conducted by a priest at the burial. But there was none for the late police officer. A Hindu cemetery worker dug the 14-foot pit required for a Covid-19 burial.

The Wire

Just when his wife thought that he would have to buried without any rituals, a pastor, who was passing by, stopped and read a chapter of the bible to console the grieving family.

Talking to Indian Express, the daughter, said:

My father’s coffin was buried by a Muslim auto driver, a Hindu cemetery helper, and two other God-sent angels, who proved that humanity is greater than any religion or belief, we blindly put faith into.

With the help of PPE kits arranged by a known nurse, the family was finally able to conclude the last rites.

You can read the complete story here.