Rehena Bewa of Subhrajpur village in Thanarpara, Nadia, broke down on Friday morning when she heard that her “sister” Manjushree Mandal had died at a hospital.

The 61-year-old Bewa rushed to the Mandal home — the lone Hindu household in the village of 370 Muslim families — with her neighbours Shahnara, Meherunnisa and Rajia.

Urged by the imam of the local Subhrajpur Jama Mosque, the Muslims of the village consoled the bereaved husband, Sanat Mandal, and helped arrange for the last rites.

Imam Abu Sufian said: “The Mandals were the only exception in this Muslim-majority village. But we never made them feel isolated. Our elders imparted this lesson to us, and we are still carrying on with that legacy.”

A group of neighbours had taken Manjushree, 67, to the Natidanga hospital on Thursday night after she suffered a cerebral attack and waited there all night with Sanat.

The news of the death reached the village in the early hours of Friday when the residents, observing the holy month of Ramzan, were preparing for sehri.

The imam announced the news of Manjushree’s passing during the early morning prayers. He advised residents to go and help Sanat organise the last rites since the elderly Mandals had no relatives in the village.

At the mosque, the faithful prayed for Manjushree’s soul before rushing to the Mandal home to prepare for the cremation in Behrampore, 35km away.

Sanat had settled in the village, in Karimpur I block, in 1964 as a young boy with his family after coming over from Kushtia in Bangladesh. Manjushree was a local girl.

She was a schoolteacher and he a farmer. They made their Muslim neighbours a part of every family event. The couple’s two daughters are married and live elsewhere.

“With their daughters getting married a few years ago, we tried to support the couple in every way we could. We did so on Thursday night, too, after she suffered a cerebral attack,” said Milton Sheikh, a villager.

By the time the couple’s daughters and a few relatives arrived on Friday, Muslim youths such as Milton, Rahaman and others had made all the arrangements.

The mosque committee has urged the villagers to help the family organise the shraddho, too.

“It’s our duty as neighbours to remain with the elderly husband in his time of grief,” the imam said.

Sanat said: “I have been living here for six decades and never felt friendless because of my religion. The feeling was renewed yesterday amid the grief. These people have been protecting me.”

He added: “Such kindness is part of Bengal’s tradition. It’s sad that this has now become a talking point, given all the hatred across the nation.”