KOPPAL
: When an 85-year-old man died following complaints of breathlessness, neighbours kept away from assisting his family as they feared his medical condition carried Covid-like symptoms.
That was when a group of Muslim youths who were relaxing after iftaar put off their namaz by three hours and performed the elderly person’s
last rites in Koppal town
, about 350km from Bengaluru, late Sunday night.
The youths are volunteers of the Koppal chapter of Humanitarian Relief Society (HRS). The social organisation received a call on Sunday saying they needed help in conducting the final rites of Vitthal Rao Mahendrakar, who died at his residence in Vikas Nagar in Koppal town after a brief illness.
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Muslim youths put off their namaz by 3 hours and helped a relative to do Vitthal Rao Mahendrakar’s last rites in Koppal late Sunday night
‘8-10 youths were ready to help family’
Mohammed Khaleel Udevu of HRS said they make no distinction based on religion or gender. “We are trained in cremating bodies during pandemic. We sought directions on the updated Covid norms from HRS captain, Amir Siddiqui, in Mangaluru. As per the revised protocol, ambulance staff wearing PPE carried the body. Wearing facemasks, we organised logs and set up a pyre. Raghu, the lone family member of the deceased who was at the funeral, performed the rites and lit the pyre,” he said.
Raghu said Vitthal’s friends from the Muslim community conducted the cremation as per Hindu custom and added that he’s now looking after Vitthal’s son, who is not keeping good health.
Humanitarian Relief Society, a social wing of
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
, trained 20 people in Koppal last year to help the needy during calamities such as heavy rain, floods and health emergencies like pandemic. JIH’s Koppal chapter chief Syed Hidayat Ali said some 8-10 youths were willing to offer help on Sunday night.
Since the revised Covid protocol stipulates only five persons at a funeral, Asgar Khan, Gouse Patel, Sajid Hussain, Rahmat Hussain and Mahammad Akhil volunteered to help the family. They missed the 8.30pm namaz and offered it only by 11pm after the completion of rites.
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