A viral picture of the burial of an 80-year-old COVID-19 victim in Srinagar being attended only by a few policemen and not by any family member on Wednesday evoked shock among the locals, who commented profusely on the issue on social media platforms, and a debate for adoption of a better protocol by the administration on burials.
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Dr. Arshad Hussain, psychiatrist and professor at the Institute of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences-Kashmir, warned of further stigmatisation of people and families afflicted with COVID-19 infections.
“If we have to remove stigma from COVID-19 infection, it is imperative to revisit the practice of burials of patients who die of the disease. Such patients are being taken care of by hospital staff, equally posing risk of contracting the disease, and once any patient dies, the ability to infect others is drastically reduced, with, of course, proper care. We can provide these bodies a decent burial,” he told The Hindu .
Family members quarantined
A resident of Srinagar's Rainawari, the COVID-19 victim died in the Chest Disease Hospital within a day of her admission on Tuesday. The authorities immediately quarantined all the family members and disallowed their participation in the last rites.
The burial picture, circulated by the police, showed policemen helping in digging a grave and lowering the body into it. None of the relatives or neighbours were present.
Dr. Hussian said burial in Kashmir was not only a religious act but also had cultural connotations of closure for the bereaved. “The dead almost get a new address in our culture and the graves have an elaborate epitaph. The process of burial itself is very elaborate with lots of cultural sensitivities, including how many people come for burial. It helps in overall grief resolution.”
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Dr. Hussian advocated burials “with precautions which are scientific and rational”. “Religious leaders need to take a lead in this. They should inculcate the new norm of social distancing at the burials. It becomes important to remove stigma and shame from corona infection,” he said.
Dr. Naveed Nazeer, who heads the Chest Disease Hospital said, “It was painful to see that the family members and near and dear ones were not able to perform the last rites. Apparently, the patient neither had a travel history nor was a primary contact.”
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Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) president Dr. Nisar-ul-Hassan said in a statement that there was no risk of catching the coronoavirus infection from the victims’ bodies. “Cadavers do not transmit disease. There is no evidence of a person being infected from the exposure to corpse. The virus doesn’t survive in the human body after death.”
Director General of Police Dilbag Singh complimented the SHO, Rainawari, for performing the burial and the last rites. “The SHO’s team has done commendable community service,” he said.
