bdnews24.com :
People are dying alone from the coronavirus, a frightening reality consuming the human population. Families are forced to stay away from the dying patients as the fear of contagion runs deep. Amid the outbreak, a group of volunteers are working tirelessly to bury the bodies by risking their lives.
A 15-member team of Al-Markazul Islami, a volunteer organisation, has been performing funeral rituals free of charge. The team resides at the organisation’s head office in Mohammadpur.
Al-Markazul Islami initially had two teams operating in Kishoreganj and Manikganj. But the teams had to be brought to Dhaka to cope with the city’s higher death toll, compared to other areas of the country. At present, the team is exclusively working in Dhaka and its surroundings.
As of Saturday, 84 people had died from the coronavirus. Al-Markazul Islami alone had buried 60 of them in the capital until Friday. A graveyard in Khilgaon Taltala has been set as the final resting place for those who have died from the coronavirus.
IEDCR, the government’s disease control agency, has decided upon a burial procedure for the victims following the World Health Organisation’s protocol while still preserving the different burial practices of other religions. From washing the dead body to its burial, everything is done following strict safety measures.
Family members can see the dead person before and after the body is washed, said Mushtak Hossain, former chief scientific officer of IEDCR. They can even attend the funeral prayer and burial from a safe distance, he said. However, experts have discouraged large gatherings at funerals.
“A dying person usually has his dear ones staying with him in his final hours. But this is such a pitiful situation where the family members cannot come near even if they want to or they avoid communication all together,” Zubair Zubair is one of the team members performing the burials and he has voluntarily kept himself separated from his family.
“I feel very bad in thinking that we bury the bodies of people from the well-established families but none of their family members come to accompany us. Sometimes they do not even make a query.”
It is heart-breaking to transport a body from the deceased’s home, he said.
“A lot of times, family members cry their hearts out while we bring out the body. We too cannot help but get emotional. We do not have to face this situation while taking out bodies from the hospital.”
The Directorate General of Health Services, or DGHS, has trained them on maintaining personal safety while handling dead bodies, said Zubair.
“We have been asked to follow the doctors in maintaining personal safety. We wear gumboots, PPEs, surgical gloves, face masks and surgical goggles. We try to keep ourselves safe as much as possible.”
The PPEs are burnt after every use, he said.
My family has been supportive of my decision to work for the organisation, said Zubair.
“Initially I did not inform my family about my work. They came to know about it later and it scared them. But they gradually accepted it saying I am performing a noble deed.”
Abdullah Sadek, another staff of Al-Markazul Islami said, “We do it out of humanity. Sometimes the deceased’s family members want to participate in the funeral prayer. But we are unable to permit them due to the scarcity of PPEs. This is a really sad situation.”
“Sometimes the family members call us repeatedly to know about the burial; a lot of them cry a lot. We feel heartbroken when we imagine ourselves in their shoes.”
With the approval of the government, Al-Markazul Islami performs funeral rituals if no other organisation does it, said Hamza Shahidul Islam, acting president of the organisation.
“The joint secretary of the health ministry informs us about the dead person. Afterwards, we send a team with a car to the spot. After confirming the cause of death, we immediately take out the body to wash it and then subsequently bury it.”
For those belonging to other religious communities, the specific rituals are followed, he said. The organisation has assisted in the cremation of eight people from the Hindu community, Hamza added.
The government has been regularly supplying us with the necessary safety gears, he said.
Al-Markazul Islami emerged as a volunteer organisation following the floods in 1988. There are 5,000 members of the organisation engaged in philanthropic work as of now. Al-Markazul Islami also worked for the rehabilitation of the Rohingyas, according to the organisation’s acting president.
