Meet Abdul Gani, The Man Who Performs Last Rites Of Patients Whose Relatives Don't Return To Claim The Dead Bodies!

Performing the last rites of 150 tuberculosis patients whose bodies had been abandoned by their families

The corridors of the civic-run tuberculosis hospital in Sewree are empty. In the wards, you see most patients lying on the bed or staring into space with no one to talk to. Unlike other public hospitals that need a battery of security guards to shoo away a dozen relatives who walk in with a single patient, Sewree's TB hospital never faces that problem. There is a simple reason for this. Most relatives here never come back, not even to claim bodies of patients who succumb to the deadly and infectious disease. That's where 30-year-old Abdul Gani comes into the picture.

'Talk of good deeds, people find it easy to give alms to beggars, but I chose this'

For the past five years, Gani, a textile merchant, has taken charge of 150 unclaimed bodies from the TB hospital to be able to perform their last rites. "When we talk about good deeds, most people find it easier to give alms to beggars. But I chose this way," he says.

Born and brought up in Sewree, Gani often roamed around the alleys of the hospital along with his friends when he was a teenager. "At that time, I had never heard of TB nor did I know the sorry state of patients here," he says, adding that his initiative started sometime in 2009 when a close relative had to be admitted with the disease. "I met many patients who were free of TB, but they were still in the hospital as their relatives did not want to take them home. Most relatives had left wrong addresses and telephone numbers so that the hospital authorities could not reach them," he recalls.

Mumbai Mirror

As Gani's visits to the hospital increased, he became friends with the staff and patients. "One day, I was talking to a senior staff member who happened to mention the body of a middle-aged man lying in the hospital's mortuary for three months. The relatives could not be reached and the diseased body had no takers in the medical colleges for dissection," says Gani.

It was the first time he sought permission from the hospital and the police to perform the last rites of a stranger. "That night when I went back home and told my father about what I had done, he could not stop praising me. There was immense satisfaction within me and I decided to continue doing this," he adds.

Hospital turns to Gani when relatives don't turn up

On an average, six patients die every day at the hospital that has 1,200 beds. The relatives of at least 10 per cent of these patients cannot be contacted. Though KEM, Sion and Nair hospitals get priority over unclaimed bodies for dissection because of their affiliated medical colleges, they do not prefer bodies with additional infections like HIV, which are commonly seen in those suffering TB. Protocol dictates that hospital authorities wait for one month for the relatives to turn up before sending bodies for dissection.

If there are bodies which remain unclaimed, a call goes out to Gani who lands up at the hospital in a rented ambulance. "I carry out all the necessary paperwork that includes taking a no-objection certificate from the police to perform the last rites. Then, I take the body to the Nariyalwadi Kabrastan at Reay Road where it is buried after all the necessary rituals. I spend around Rs 3,500 for one body and this includes the ambulance rent, the cost of the kafan cloth, digging the grave, etc.," he says.

Asks people of other faiths to join him in the deed

Gani has only been taking the bodies of Muslim patients because he is familiar with the religion and its rituals. "I had one Hindu person working along with me, and we then took bodies of Hindu patients as well. But since he left, I am performing last rites of Muslims only," he says. He wants people from other faiths to work with him in order to be able to expand the ambit of this help.

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Gani says he is highly inspired by Mohammad Sharif from Faizabad, an elderly man who has come to be known as 'lawaris lashwale chacha' for performing the last rites for hundreds of unclaimed bodies from all faiths.

"There are times when the hospital staff call me at odd hours to pick up a body. I never hesitate for a second," says Gani. He adds that since he began doing this good deed, he has only seen 'barkat' in his life. Gani ensures that he never skips a meal and eats nutritious food. "One thing I have learnt from the doctors here is if you have strong immunity, you will never contract TB," he says, "I can continue doing this work only if my health permits. I can never let my immunity drop."

(Originally published in Mumbai Mirror)