The stigma attached to COVID-19 patients is robbing the dead of their dignity. “We were told that the person died due to a fall in Golconda area. But when we reached the hospital, the death was due to COVID. We ferried the body to Balapur burial ground but the family refused to attend the last rites,” says Mujtaba Askari of Helping Hands Foundation. He has now started a hearse service to safely transport bodies from hospitals and homes to graveyards for burial.
Sai Katragadda, who runs Last Ride Service, understood the challenges in ensuring human dignity when a friend’s mother passed away due to COVID at a private hospital in HiTec City area on June 26. “My friend was in quarantine. The hospital refused to deploy the ambulance for transporting the body. Finally, we managed to get an ambulance for ₹20,000 to cover a distance of 10 km to Erragadda. The people at the crematorium demanded ₹25,000 for the funeral pyre,” says Mr. Katragadda who has now teamed up with 10 other techies and is offering the last ride services in Cyberabad and Hyderabad areas.
As the COVID death toll keeps going up, storage and transport of dead bodies and the funerals are proving to be a challenge. Families are being forced to deal with shock, grief, loneliness and the callousness of those around them. “We had a patient who died in an apartment complex in Vijayanagar Colony at midnight. The residents’ welfare association did not let the body be brought out of the home or allow any medical personnel inside. Finally, officials from the Asifnagar Police Station had to be roped in to bring out the body and transport it to the graveyard. We could do the rites only around noon,” informs Mr. Askari as he narrates one shocking anecdote after the other about the challenges their service is facing.
Other organisations have also stepped in to offer the final journey services. Another challenge for offering this humanitarian service has been the fear among the hearse drivers and staff handling the dead bodies. “Hospitals are taking a lot of precautions and handing over sealed bodies. We put them in multi-layer body bags and the driver is completely sealed off from the rear part of the vehicle. In addition, we have counselled them with safety measures and are offering additional perks for the service,” says Mr. Katragadda.
The hearse services are available only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. due to COVID-19 guidelines.
Services of Helping Hands Foundation can be availed by calling 9603354086/ 8977898706; Last Ride Service at 8499843545/ 7995404040 and Amoomat Society at 9030819775/ 7680037677.