New Delhi

Sabina Rehman, in her over two years in the job at the electric crematorium at Irinjalakuda in Thrissur in Kerala, is shocked to see the rush of bodies of Hindus and Christian in the second wave of the Covid-19.

This 29-year-old Muslim also happened to be the first woman to be aoointed as manager of a Hindu crematorium. She has been spending 14 hours a day at work overseeing the arrangement for 7-8 corpses that are brought for the cremation per day as against 2 to 3 earlier.

Sabina Rehman is the administrator of the crematorium run by SNBS Samajam, a welfare organization of the Ezhawa Hindu community.

The crematorium located behind Christ College always is always seen with ambulances running in and out of the cremation ground. Anytime of the day bodies are being taken out of these for cremation. The air is filled with the blaring of sirens of the ambulance.

Sabina says the rush in the current wave is so high that at times, she has to postpone the cremation to the next day.  In between consigning the bodies to the heat in the crematorium, each cremation is followed by two hours of ash collection.

She say during the last few weeks her work has become very challenging.

Although she was initially assigned to the crematorium as an assistant to attend the last rites and assist in the work when the post of caretaker fell vacant she was promoted as manager.

Sabina is a commerce graduate and a mother of an eight year old boy.