They selflessly step forward to cremate Covid victims
A group of 8 volunteers in Ludhiana have performed last rites of 227 persons since April
Nikhil Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, August 25
A group of traffic marshals of Ludhiana Police is voluntarily engaged in the noble and gallant task of cremating bodies of Covid victims. The group has performed the last rites of at least 227 persons, whose family members did not claim their bodies out of fear of getting infected.
During lockdown, the state police engaged volunteers to serve as traffic marshals, who were primarily entrusted with the task of policing. An eight-member team of volunteers led by Mandeep Keshav Guddu, who is in charge of over 100 traffic marshals, has been engaged with the cremation of the bodies of the infected.
“On an average, we daily cremate eight to ten Covid patients, mostly from the district. While bodies of most victims are consigned to the flames, we have also buried the bodies of some Muslims,” said Keshav.
The first case that came to the group was of 69-year-old Surinder Kaur in April. Her family members had refused to accept her body. The help group of traffic marshals came forward and offered to cremate the body. Mayor Balkar Singh, who was approached for permission, allowed the cremation of unattended bodies of the Covid-affected with the permission of their family members
Another member of the group, Charanjit Singh, said: “The cremation is mostly done in the gas chamber at Model Town extension, costing Rs 4,500. Sometimes poor families can’t afford to make any payment, then we all contribute.” The team members include Prateek Verma (a doctor), Gopal Singh Purva (an advocate), Prince Kapur, Harvinder Singh, Amarjit Singh, and Gurpreet Singh — all residents of the city.
“Initially our family members were against our initiative as they feared that they might catch infection. We allayed their fears, explaining that when we take a Covid positive body from the hospital to the cremation ground, we wear PPE kits, double gloves and masks. Each time we cremate a body, we also consign our PPE kits to the flames along with the body. We assured them that we were taking all precautions to remain infection-free,” said Charanjit Singh.
