KELSA asks govt to form guidelines for decent burial

Kochi: Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA), on Tuesday urged the Government to form guidelines to ensure a decent burial to all. The judge criticised the act of authorities in dumping a half-burnt body in a toilet in Kochi.  

The judge asked the state through the Chief Secretary and Secretary in the Health and Family Welfare Deparment and Secretary and Local Self-government department to place their views so that a comprehensive perspective can be had from such institutions with appropriate liaising through KELSA.  

According to him, the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Burial and Burning Grounds) Rules, provided that the local self-government institution should provide land to be used for burial and a burning ground by meeting the expenditure from their fund.  

These rules specifically provide that a corpse should not be badly treated. The statutory rules show that the burial of an unclaimed corpse shall, if the religion of the deceased is identified, be as far as possible in accordance with the religious custom.

The statutes are vociferous about the fact that no partly burnt corpse can be taken out before the entire body and clothes turn to ashes.  

The right to privacy of a human being does not end with death, privacy is an indispensable element of dignity, the judge said. Human dignity includes the eligibility and fundamental right for decent disposal of the human remains of a particular person.

That right is inherent in human rights. They are equally protected by the right to life enshrined and protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.