When kin shun dead, this Odisha couple steps in for last rites

BHUBANESWAR: A Bhubaneswar-based couple has set an example for many in fighting the humanitarian crisis caused by Covid.
Pradeep, 48, and Madhusmita Prusty, 36, have been collecting unclaimed bodies and performing their last rites. At a time when family members are reluctant to touch the bodies of their kin, the couple has come forward to give the dead some dignity. In the past one month alone, they have cremated eight unclaimed bodies and more than 30 of Covid-19 patients.
“Family members of those dying of Covid have been calling us to perform the last rites as they are scared to touch them for the fear of getting infected. We perform the last rites wearing PPE kits, gloves and masks,” said Pradeep, who was on his way to cremate a 75-year-old woman who died of Covid in Pokhariput.
Apart from Covid patients, they get calls from the police to cremate unclaimed bodies as well.
“We started cremating unclaimed bodies, particularly those lying on railway tracks, with an aim to give some dignity to the dead. But during the ongoing Covid pandemic, the number of trains has reduced and so have deaths on tracks. But there are many unclaimed bodies of beggars who die of unknown reasons,” Pradeep said. Once they get a call from the police regarding an unclaimed body, they first take it to the hospital — where the body is kept for three to four days, after postmortem, in the hope that somebody would claim it. If no one comes, the couple takes the bodies to the cremation ground in their vehicle.
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