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Maruti Reddy on a mission of mercy
A Good Samaritan panchayat worker is contributing his mite to society giving a free burial to bodies of orphans as he believes that none was born an orphan.
Penukonda: A Good Samaritan panchayat worker is contributing his mite to society giving a free burial to bodies of orphans as he believes that none was born an orphan. This man is Maruti Reddy, employed as waterman with the Penukonda panchayat office. He derived inspiration from his father, Anji Reddy (former upa sarpanch), and took active part in service activities along with his father.
He always wanted to make a difference in the lives of the poor and destitute. He was moved at panchayat workers burying the bodies of beggars and other unclaimed bodies. In a historic town like Penukonda, which was ruled by Srikrishnadevarayalu, tourist inflow and those of beggars is very high. The accident rate in the village is also high because of its proximity to the national highway. Nobody comes forward to dispose of the unclaimed bodies.
This is where he pitched in. Maruti Reddy, who has had no wherewithal to afford an ambulance to transport bodies, converted his two-wheeler moped into a three-wheeler attaching a trolley to it to transport bodies to the burial ground. The moment he receives a phone call from the police and hospital authorities, he immediately swings into action. The moment post-mortem is done on a body, he takes care of everything else till it is given a burial.
He gave his phone number to surrounding villages of Penukonda so that people contact when his services are needed. He would ask the poor bereaved family members of those who have committed suicide to contact him to access free service to get the body buried. Maruti Reddy, who gives precedence to humanity over religion, believes that human life would be meaningless if mercy was not shown towards the people cursed by fate.
When an aged beggar got killed in a hit and run incident last Saturday, Maruti Reddy shifted the body on his three-wheeler and performed the last rites along with the other panchayat workers. He attributed his service to society to the cooperation from fellow panchayat workers.
By K Kiran Kumar
