Belagavi, KARNATAKA :

Working for the last 13 years with BCC, Samsher has been picking up dead bodies of several persons and taking them to the graveyard till date for performing their last rites.

Belagavi :  

Dedicated to his work, Nisar Ahmed Abdulgani Samsher, a driver of hearse van belonging to Belagavi City Corporation (BCC) has proved himself to be an outstanding Covid warrior by performing his work beyond his duties which can only be said for ‘humanity’.

Working for the last 13 years with BCC, Samsher has been picking up dead bodies of several persons and taking them to the graveyard till date for performing their last rites. But after the Covid – 19 pandemic commenced, his profession was a big challenge for him, which he accepted heartily.

Speaking to ‘The New Indian Express’, Samsher said that on an average he used to pick as many as 40 to 50 dead bodies per month located within BCC limits. But, he said that during Covid pandemic, he has been picking up more than 70 to 80 dead bodies per month. And many of them have died due to Covid, he said.The most tragic thing that comes after Covid is the question in the minds of relatives of the deceased which asks – ‘Who will perform the last rites of the Covid positive patient?’, said Samsher.

He said that he has seen several people refusing to receive the dead body of their relative because that deceased has died due to Covid. Following the same Samsher started taking the responsibility to perform the last rites of those persons who have died due to Covid as his or her relatives are denying to perform the last rites due to the same. Several people have paid him the required amount to perform the last rites of the deceased, who has died due to Covid which amounts about Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per body.

He has even collected the ashes of the cremated dead body from the graveyard and handed it over to the relatives of the deceased at their door steps on their request. Recalling an incident, Samsher said that an old woman died to Covid recently and she had no relative in Belagavi to perform her last rites. He said that there were two sons of the deceased who had died a couple of years ago and her only daughter was residing at Goa.

“The daughter of the deceased called me on my mobile phone and requested to perform the last rites of her mother. Following the same I performed the last rites of the old woman and managed to send the ashes packed in a box to her daughter at her Goa address. The expenses for performing the mentioned last rites was donated by a social worker,” he said. Samsher is working from 6 am to 8 pm per day and during the ongoing Covid pandemic he has been working in a very hectic schedule.

Due to the same, most of his senior officials attached to BCC have appreciated him and several organizations have felicitated him. When speaking to TNIE, Samsher was carrying three orphan dead bodies to the Sadashiv Nagar graveyard and all of them had died due to Covid. Samsher said that he feels happy to help people and the profession into which he is, is the best way to help them. ‘And for whatever good I do, there is a god to bless me, which is more than what earning matters to me,’ he concluded.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Tushar A Majukar / Express News Service / June 13th, 2021