"Here I AM": A Bengaluru Group To Help With Last Rites Of Covid Victims

With many deaths recorded in the city due to Covid 19 - the group, "Here I Am", has helped with 1,400 burials since the first wave - including over 800 in the last month alone during the deadly second wave.

Amid the second Covid wave in Bengaluru, a key challenge the city has faced is performing the last rites of those who've died due to COVID-19. Strict protocol needs to be followed, and family members of the victims are often Covid positive themselves. "Here I Am" is a group of volunteers from different faiths, which has set up a "Covid Last Rites and Funeral Squad" Team under the Bangalore Archdiocese to help such grieving family members. Nicole, a student, is a volunteer. Her cousin, Tina Cherian, is a final year medical student. These young women now spend hours every day inside a cemetery in Bengaluru. Nicole, who studies at St Joseph's College of Arts and Science, told NDTV, "It feels nice to help. And I have a lot of love in my family that helps us get through it, seeing so many bodies every day. I don't think there is any difference, us being girls. Yes, we are young but if not now, then when?"