As he guides a grieving family, which had just arrived at the Lodhi Crematorium, ASI Rakesh Chaudhury also keeps an eye on around eight-nine funeral pyres he helped set up.

“On a daily basis, there are 20-30 bodies of coronavirus patients that we help cremate here,” assistant police sub-inspector Rakesh Chaudhury tells PTI.

He tells the bereaved relatives of the victims where they can get the material required for conducting the last rites, consoles them, at times put firewood on bodies, and even prepares funeral pyres himself when families don’t.

“Many a time there is just one attendant with the body. Sometimes even when there are more they do not want to touch the body. They either sit in the parking lot or on the road, and we carry the body and help in cremation,” he says.

Chaudhary says he has helped cremate 1,300-1,400 bodies in the past one month.

The 56-year-old father of three was posted at the crematorium on April 13 when the city had just begun to witness a sudden spike in coronavirus cases and deaths in the second wave.

Chaudhury had joined the Delhi Police in 1986. His family lives back home in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, while he stays in the barracks of Nizamuddin Police Station, reporting for duty every day from 7am to 8pm.

“I talk to my family members daily over a video call. They are quite supportive. The only thing they tell me ‘just stay safe and continue doing what you are doing’. I feel that helping people in distress is my duty,” he said.

His family has his elderly parents, wife and three children — two sons and a daughter. The ASI said he had postponed his daughter’s wedding scheduled for May 7.

“There is so much sadness all around and it doesn’t look good that we hold a wedding,” he said.