Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions filed by members of the Muslim community against the government’s regulation that makes cremations mandatory for Covid-related deaths.
Some 12 petitioners had challenged the official gazette issued in April, claiming it impinged on the fundamental rights of the island nation’s 9 per cent Muslim minority.
When the pandemic broke out in the country, the Ministry of Health revised its guidelines on March 31, ordering cremations only for persons who succumbed to or were suspected to have died of Covid-19. The guidelines were issued after a Muslim, who tested Covid positive, passed away.