Coronavirus: Muslim men perform funeral rites for Hindu 78-year-old Hindu man after son refuses, due to fear of COVID-19

India: Tweeps appreciated the Muslim men for their gesture, displaying communal harmony

A group of Muslim men in the Indian state of Maharashtra, stepped up to perform the last rites of a 78-year-old Hindu man, who died on Sunday, after a heart attack. Reportedly, the man's family allegedly refused to accept his body because his wife was receiving treatment for COVID-19 at a government hospital in the state.

Reportedly, Amravati Divisional Commissioner Piyush Singh said that on Sunday, the local health department received a message at around 6.30pm that the 78-year-old man had collapsed at his residence. An ambulance was dispatched, but the man had died by then.

Singh added that according to the protocol, swabs are not collected from a dead body but samples from close relatives are taken, according to a report by news website indianexpress.com.

According to news reports, the man’s son, who lives in Nagpur, was informed but he refused to receive the body, since his mother was admitted and under treatment for coronavirus at the Akola Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

The head of the sanitation department at the hospital, Prashant Rajurkar said that local Muslim organisation, Akola Kutchhi Memon Jamaat, decided to perform the funeral rites for the man after hearing that his family had refused to do so.

Javed Zakeria, president of the organisation, reportedly said that after the first death was reported in Akola, the group had taken the decision to perform the last rites of individuals whose families were not able to do so. He added that, so far, they had organised 60 funerals, out of which 21 were COVID-19 deaths and five were of Hindus.

Many people took to Twitter to appreciate the group for their thoughtful gesture, especially during a time when many cases of communal hatred were reported in parts of India, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Tweep @ASHIM217 posted: “This is the strength of my India…”

And, @ayubalikhan37 tweeted: “It is an example of unity in diversity and brotherhood.”

Maharashtra is one of the states in India that has been worst-affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Out of India’s nearly 152,000 cases, 52,667 are from this state.