Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has app-lauded a Catholic parish for allowing the cremation of Hindu Covid victim in its cemetery.
“The action of Edathua church to allow the pyre of a Covid -19 patient, who was not a member of the parish, is laudable,” Vijayan told a press conference on May 27 while briefing the coronavirus situation in the southern Indian state.
Srinivasan Puthenpurayil, an 86-year-old Hindu migrant from Tamil Nadu, was cremated on May 25 in the cemetery of St George Church at Edathua in Kerala’s Alappuzha district.
The man’s five family members were in quarantine after they were tested Covid positive.
“Due to heavy rain their residence and premises were waterlogged and there was no public crematorium in our place,” said Father Mathew Chooravady, the vicar of Edathua Church.
The man’s relatives and a panchayat member approached the church for help.
“After consulting the parish council team, we have decided to give our space for the cremation,” the 66-year-old priest told Matters India over phone on May 28.
The parish has launched various ways to help those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Food distribution, medical help and awareness programs are some of them,” Father Chooravady explained.
The priest said the cremation of the Hindu man was “the need of the hour,” and “our facilities should not be limited only to our community during crisis like this.”