Bombay Parsi Punchayet: Allow ‘Dokhmenashini’ of COVID victims

Photo for representational purpose

Following in the footsteps of the Surat Parsi Punchayet, the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) has decided to file a petition in the Bombay High Court to allow consigning of those who have died due to COVID, to the Towers of Silence.

The decision to file a petition for the community to be allowed to carry out Dokhmenashini - a ritual during which the body of a deceased is kept at a height and over a well, to be eaten by vultures and naturally decompose - was passed unanimously by all the BPP trustees at its board meeting on Wednesday.

Speaking with mid-day, BPP trustee Noshir Dadawala said, "We are yet to contact our lawyers and formally prepare the plaint, which will take a while…but we have decided to take a cue from our friends in Surat and file a similar petition like theirs in the Bombay HC."

"Mumbai has the largest population of Parsis. At a time when communities like Muslims and Christians are being allowed their traditional burials, Parsis also should be allowed to carry out the process of consigning bodies to the Towers of Silence. There has been a lot of heartburn and hurt prevailing among orthodox members of the Parsi community who have had to either cremate the dead or bury them. These practices generally aren't acceptable from a religious point of view because we consider the fire as divine and holy, hence, don't put dead bodies on it. We leave the bodies in towers for nature to take its course."