Burials at Christian cemeteries not being permitted in Mumbai, say kin of Covid-19 patients

On Sunday night, the family of a 61-year-old Christian woman from Mahim who had died of Covid-19, was forced to cremate her body because the cemetery refused to

On Sunday night, the family of a 61-year-old Christian woman from Mahim who had died of Covid-19, was forced to cremate her body because the cemetery refused to allow her burial. While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has identified 20 Muslim cemeteries where Covid-19 victims may be buried, no Christian cemeteries have been listed.

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With Christian cemeteries not accepting bodies of Covid-19 victims, families are being forced to abandon funeral customs. After the 61-year-old passed away on Sunday, her family spent agonising hours trying to get directions from the hospital, the municipal corporation and the police that would let her be buried. Ultimately, her body was cremated on Sunday night.

“According to the Bible, it is said that we are born out of dust and we go back to dust. When we aren’t given an option to bury the body, it hurts our sentiments. We were literally left with no option but to let the body be put in electric crematorium along with the coffin,” said Noah Christian, a relative of the Covid-19 victim.

Activist Cyril Dara said that in the last week, he had heard of three other Christians who had succumbed to Covid-19 and had to be cremated. “When there are provisions for burial of other communities, why not for our community members? In countries like USA, Italy, Iran and many other countries, respectful burial is been given,” said Dara.

Last month, BMC allowed burials within city limits, provided the ground is large enough to ensure there is no threat of transmission to residents. “When we were discussing the issue, we had called representatives of Christian and Parsi communities. They had assured us that they will look into the practice on a case to case basis. If there is a demand, we can provide for a burial space for Christians,” said a senior official from BMC.

Explaining the 20 Muslim cemeteries where Covid-19 victims may be buried, he said, “Among Muslims, there are lot of sects and each of them have different burial grounds. A demand had come in from them to allot space in cemeteries which were large,” said the official. He added that since the Christian community was “scattered,” there wasn’t a particular area that was allotted.

Father Nigel Barett, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay, which has around five lakh members, said “When it comes to burials [of Covid-19 victims], the respective family needs to take permission from BMC, and they will allot a space for burials to take place. We are not the authority here to take a call on this.”