Rajasthan: Woman Tehsildar Helps Abandoned Family Cremate Deceased Amid COVID-19 Fears

Tehsildar helps in cremation of elderly woman: Among the only things keeping people's spirits afloat and driven as the nation grapples with a darker, deadlier wave of coronavirus is that countless stories of public good are surfacing parallel to the reality of doom.

One such incident has come to light from Rajasthan, where a woman tehsildar (revenue officer) assisted a family in cremating their deceased member after known acquaintances refused to come forward for fear of COVID-19.

Rajni Yadav, an officer in the Dhod area of Sikar was contacted by villagers earlier this week with news of an elderly woman's death. People were apprehensive to help the family with her last rites, owing to a possible risk of exposing themselves to the virus in case the deceased woman was COVID-19 positive.

Sayar Kanwar, the deceased, however, passed not from COVID-19 but a prolonged illness, as per Times of India. She lived in the village with her husband and their grandchildren, who required help in performing her final rites.

Yadav stepped up immediately when word reached her.

Dhod Tehsildar Helps In Cremation: Other Stories From India's Funeral Grounds

"With the help of the sarpanch, a pick-up van was arranged which took the body to the cremation ground. There, Yadav made the preparations for the body to be consigned to flames. Thereafter, she called the deceased’s husband to light the pyre," a witness was quoted saying.

As per news agency IANS, Yadav along with some fellow revenue officers also helped in carrying the body of the deceased for the cremation. She also arranged for PPE kits, as per precautionary protocol.

"There was no one to assist the family so on the humanitarian ground I did what I could have done for them," Yadav later told PTI. 

As India's burial and cremation grounds overflow with bodies, many of which went cold not of the coronavirus but the gap in health infra that could do nothing to save them from it, many citizens have soldiered up to march to the frontlines and do their bit in ensuring a dignified send-off for those succumbing.

That, they feel, is the very least an Indian citizen failed by the state machinery that could have done so much to prevent so much is owed as their journey ends.

In Bengaluru, for instance, Anne Morris is taking time out to volunteer at a burial ground as COVID-19 casualties in the city tick upwards. Lucknow woman Varsha Verma, meanwhile, was reportedly ferrying bodies of COVID-19 deceased for free from the hospital to their final location.

Image: PTI 

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