BENGALURU: “You know what is truly heart-wrenching? Carrying a 2-year-old for cremation without breaking down,” said Jamshed Rahman, a member of Mercy Angels. The group gives dignified send-offs to Covid victims as per their religion.
The child, who had blood cancer, tested positive for Covid-19, and passed away early on Monday.
Jamshed Rahman said that the parents of the child are from West Bengal. They had come down to Bengaluru in December 2019 for the treatment of their baby girl who was diagnosed with blood cancer. The child was being treated at St John’s Hospital, but tested positive for Covid-19 a few weeks ago, and didn’t survive.
Rahman said, “The baby passed away in the wee hours of Monday. I and two other volunteers Razzak and Salam, were informed in the afternoon. When we went to take the child’s body, the parents were in a state of shock. It was difficult for us too. It was the first time we held a body of such a small Covid patient; majority of the victims are above 50 years of age.”
The volunteers reached the Kudlu crematorium around 5 pm and performed the last rites. “It was definitely the most heart-breaking cremation. We just couldn’t do it but we had to. My own child is a two-year-old girl. It is a challenge not to break down in such situations. After the cremation, we went and sat in the ambulance for one hour — there was silence. All the three of us knew — that each one of us was thinking about the baby.”