Rajesh Abraham By Express News Service KOCHI: This is not a time to fall sick. But it’s even a worse time to die. The religious rituals have been cut short and the number of persons attending the last rites has been cut to the bare minimum.The hardest hit are the near and dear ones of the deceased. Because of the lockdown, they cannot attend the funeral, denying them a chance to grieve and satisfy their spiritual and emotional needs. The ban on gatherings has also resulted in people conducting the last rites as a small and quick function, attended by just a few people. The arrest of a vicar and two officials of a church in Pathanamthitta on charges of conducting a funeral service on Wednesday, where over 50 people attended the ceremony, has come at the right time as Kerala is showing signs of community spread of Covid-19. “Right now, there are no remembrance prayers or condolence meetings; even a Mass for the departed soul is not conducted. After the lockdown, we will hold such meetings so that the spiritual and emotional needs of the faithful are met,” said Fr Mathew Kilukkan, public relations officer of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly. “The Church is aware of the concerns of the faithful. We have told the faithful to do as per the directions of the local police station, when a person passes away. The number of persons attending the funeral ceremony should be very limited,” he said, adding that when the father of a fellow priest died last week, the other priests could not go to his home in South Vazhakkulam, near Kochi. “Most of us offered our condolences through WhatsApp,” he said. There are also a large number of instances where the close relatives of the departed could not come for paying the last respects, shattering their hopes to grieve the loss of the near ones. Following the sudden passing away of A Ramachandran, vice-chancellor of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos), on Friday after a cardiac arrest, the bereaved family had to conduct the funeral without the presence of his only son, who is based in Singapore. “The body was not kept for the public to pay their last respects. Many of his colleagues and friends could not attend the funeral, which is very sad,” said one of his friends. Muralidharan, who operates a crematorium near Tripunithura, said the people have been strictly told to restrict the number of people during funerals. “There are strict instructions from the municipality not to allow more than four persons during the rituals; and a total of 15 altogether at the time of cremation,” he said. Funeral events allow the family and friends to come together, express emotion and show their support to the bereaved family. In these Covid-19 times, when the entire country is in lockdown, the gathering to say goodbye can wait.

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