Dr Rekha Krishna

Amid the harrowing stories surfacing from across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a heart touching story has come to the fore. Social media is in awe of a female Hindu doctor who recently recited an Islamic prayer to a Muslim COVID patient on his death bed. The patient, who was suffering from COVID pnemonia, was on ventilator for more than two weeks at Sevana Hospital and Research Centre in Kerala’s Palakkad district before she died .

Dr Rekha Krishna, who works at the hospital and recited the prayer, said: “The patient was taken out of the ventilator on May 17 as her conditions worsened. As doctors felt that there was very little they could do in such a condition, we informed the situation to the relatives.

As I approached her, I felt that she was having some problems in leaving the earthly abode. Then, I slowly recited Kalima (La Ilaha Illalla, Muhammadur Rasululla) in her ears. I could see her taking a few deep breaths and then she flatlined.”

Dr Krishna further said, “My act was not planned. It happened at the spur of the moment. I was born and brought up in Dubai and I knew the customs and practices followed by Muslims. I was never discriminated against because of my faith when I was in the Gulf and I returned the respect when I got a chance. I was brought up in a surrounding where every faith is respected.”

Explaining the importance of relationship between the patient and the doctor, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Krishna said: “I don’t think mine is a religious gesture; it is a humane act. A major problem with Covid-19 patients is that they feel lonely and isolated. Health workers are the single point of contact for them without their family around and we should do all we can to help the patients.”

When Dr Krishna narrated the entire incident to a fellow doctor, the doctor wrote a post about the same on social media. The post then went viral.