Abandoned by son, Muslim woman conducts Hindu man’s funeral
FollowA Muslim woman came forward to conduct the final rites of a 70-year-old Hindu man, after his son refused to cremate him on grounds that he had converted to Christianity.
Keerthi Srinivas (70), an inmate of the Sahrudaya Old Age Home, died on Tuesday evening. He was brought to the institution run by Mohammed Mahboob Ali and his wife Yakubi two years back. They had found him living on a pavement and had suffered a paralytic stroke.
Srinivas breathed his last on Tuesday evening, and Yakubi informed his son Sharath. However, he son refused to come and perform the last rites, saying he had converted to Christianity, which his father did not approve. On persistent requests, he agreed to have a last glimpse of his father, but refused to conduct the last rites.
“This is strange as the son refused to perform the last rites. We have vowed to serve the old and infirm and we definitely care for them, when it comes to giving them an honourable farewell from the material world,” Yakubi told The Hindu.
Since her husband Ali was not present at the institution, Yakubi decided to do the cremation.
"Since we took care of his father all these days, he asked us to take care of his dead body also. So I decided to conduct the rituals myself. All these days I served him, I feel grateful to serve him even in his death. He was like my own father,” Yakubi told The Deccan Chronicle.
