Johannesburg: In South Africa, some Hindu priests have been accused of allegedly overcharging them for the funerals of those who died due to Covid-19. Pradeep Ramlal, manager at Clare Estate Crematorium in Durban, has condemned the priests who did so. Ramlal, a member of the Hindu Religion Association in South Africa, said that he had received complaints from priests over exorbitant charges from several families whose family members died due to Covid-19. In recent weeks, personnel has been working in two shifts at the funeral sites due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the new form of the virus. The population of people of Indian origin in South Africa is around 1.4 million.
Ramlal told the Weekly Past, ‘Priests are charging more fees for funerals, it is not right. According to our scriptures, this is a service to the community. If a family wants to donate to the priest then it is fine but priests should not charge for it. ”He told the community that they should avoid such exploitation in today’s difficult circumstances and make funerals themselves, for this They can take help of pre-recorded video.
In the last two months, the number of deaths due to infection and infection of Covid-19 in South Africa has increased very fast. So far more than 13 lakh cases of infection have been reported here and 39,501 people have lost their lives due to infection. India is going to send more than 15 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine here by next month.
