Can't Change Funeral SOP For Parsi Covid Victims: Centre To Supreme Court
NDTV
Earlier the Gujarat High Court said Health Ministry guidelines were in "the larger public interest" and could not be said to be violative of Parsis' fundamental rights
The government has told the Supreme Court it will not change cremation/burial protocols for the bodies of those who died of COVID-19 in order to accommodate funeral rites of the Parsi community, who traditionally allow corpses to decay naturally.
The government pointed out that these rites involve exposing the body, which could still contain active traces of the coronavirus, to professional pall bearers and the virus could spread.
The government also argued that the bodies of Covid-infected persons would also be exposed to the environment and animals if not buried or cremated.
Parsi rituals, however, prohibit the burial or cremation of dead bodies.
