The deceased, Rakhi (44), a native of Chhattisgarh, had been living at the Benedict Menni Psycho-Social Rehabilitation Centre in Chittattumukku, Thiruvananthapuram.
Published Sep 15, 2025 | 6:56 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 15, 2025 | 6:56 PM
Safeer, a practising Muslim, readily took up the role of Rakhi’s kin. (Supplied)
Synopsis: Safeer’s gesture has since struck a chord far beyond the panchayat. Across social media, users are celebrating it as the “real Kerala story”—a reminder that, even in times marked by religious polarisation elsewhere, the state continues to uphold the principles of compassion and co-existence.
In a touching reminder of Kerala’s enduring legacy of humanity and communal harmony, social media has been abuzz with praise for T. Safeer, a Muslim panchayat member from Kadinamkulam in Thiruvananthapuram, who stepped forward to perform the last rites of a Hindu woman when no relatives could be traced.
The deceased, Rakhi (44), a native of Chhattisgarh, had been living at the Benedict Menni Psycho-Social Rehabilitation Centre in Chittattumukku, Thiruvananthapuram.
A survivor of mental illness who later developed cancer, Rakhi had expressed one final wish to the nuns who cared for her—that she be cremated according to Hindu rituals.
But when she passed away on Friday afternoon, there was no family by her side. Efforts to trace her relatives proved futile; her brother and daughter were reportedly themselves undergoing treatment for mental health conditions.
Faced with this dilemma, the nuns at the centre turned to local Congress ward member and Kadinamkulam grama panchayat representative, T. Safeer.
Safeer, a practising Muslim, readily took up the role of Rakhi’s kin. He approached the Kazhakoottam police, completed the formalities with the help of Kerala Congress (M) leader A.H. Hafeez, and then carried out the cremation rites at Shanthitheeram in Kazhakoottam—guided by crematorium staff and with the support of the nuns.
This is not the first time Safeer has taken on such a responsibility. Just two weeks earlier, he had performed the funeral of another woman from the same centre whose family members were unable to do so.
Rakhi’s life itself was one of resilience and hardship. She had first been admitted to Kuthiravattom Mental Health Centre in Kozhikode in a disturbed condition, speaking only Hindi.
After recovering, she was shifted to the Benedict Menni ashram, run by Latin Catholic nuns.
There, cancer claimed her life, but not before she entrusted her final wish to Sister Shinsi, one of the nuns closest to her.
Safeer’s gesture has since struck a chord far beyond the panchayat. Across social media, users are celebrating it as the “real Kerala story”—a reminder that, even in times marked by religious polarisation elsewhere, the state continues to uphold the principles of compassion and co-existence.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
