Science graduate performs cremating ceremonies for 10,000 unclaimed dead bodies

RANCHI: For the last 14 years Mohammed Khalid has been performing services to the society silently by cremating and burying unclaimed dead bodies as per their religion and has practised the last rites for more than 10,000 bodies.

Khalid believes that, whatever life a person might have lived, he must be sent from the world in a dignified manner. Khalid, who is a science graduate and also a pathologist by profession, has been doing this form of social service all on his own without taking any support from the Government or any other organization.

All of it began by chance, when he was working as a cleaning supervisor at the Sadar Hospital which is located in Hazaribagh where an old lady who was suffering from leprosy had been dumped at the hospital by her family members died and there was nobody to perform her last rights.

"When nobody came forward, I cremated the dead body at the nearby crematorium of my own which changed my life as it gave me a sense of immense satisfaction and I took decision then and there to carry forward this noble cause by giving a dignified exit from this world to those, who might not had lived a comfortable life here. Now, during the last 14 years, I have performed last rights of not less than 10,000 dead bodies in Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Chatra and, Ramgarh districts of Jharkhand," said Khalid.

The district administration had put a notice at various places in Hazaribagh asking them to contact Md Khalid if they face any problem regarding the cremation or burial of dead bodies, he added. "To ensure a dignified exit to the dying person, we also make it a point to immerse the ashes of those dead bodies to Varanasi or prey for them in the mosque and church as per their religion," said Khalid.

Tapas Chakravarty, who is a retired professor from St Columba College in Hazaribagh, is also associated with Khalid along with others such as, Ashish Singh, Md Naseem and Mukesh Ram. "Being his teacher, it makes me feel proud when I see Khalid. He had fought with the administration for 13 long years for the mortuary which is there at Sadar hospital, controlled completely by us," said Chakravarty.