Muslim youth performs last rites of Hindu man

Shriram Belkhode, resident of Kharbi area, died due to heart attack on Sunday. His relatives abstained from visiting his body as they fret over Covid suspicion. After five hours, the body was cremated by a Muslim man, Salman Rafique as per Hindu rituals.

Nagpur: The chaos created by the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has not only made many in society have an antipathy to those suffering from it but has also brought out the goodness in humans who forget themselves in service of others. Religious barriers have also been broken with many volunteering to conduct the funeral rights of others inspite of religious differences. The city of Nagpur is witness to one such incident with humanity trumped over religious divisions.

The scare regarding the pandemic is so ingrained that mere suspicion of COVID deters family members from even conducting funeral rites of their loved ones. Shriram Belkhode, a resident of Kharbi in Nagpur passed away due to a heart attack, his relatives were hesitant to visit the family and conduct the funeral rites. It was a Muslim man, Salman Rafique, who came forward to cremate the remains of Shriram Belkhode at the hour of crisis.

Among Belkhonde's relatives, speculations were rife that Belkhonde died of COVID-19. There was only his wife, daughter and a young son beside Belkhode's body. His body was left unattended for five hours from 11 am to 4 pm, as his relatives stayed away from the funeral.

Salman Rafique said that it is his duty as a human being to help as much as possible by putting religion aside. He also refused to speak in front of the camera, saying he did not have any intention to gain publicity from his action.

Salman Rafique took the initiative and called his friends from the mosque committee to help him bear the pyre. Not even four relatives were willing to help him. Being a Muslim, Rafique was unaware of Hindu rituals of cremation.

Paying every due respect for Belkhonde's religion, Rafique called his Hindu friend, learned the rituals and performed it. According to Hindu rites, the body was cremated at Dighori Cemetery. Rafique bore all the expenses of the cremation also. Rafique is a Shiv Sainik and is working as an office-bearer of Yuvasena.