Meet Danala Arya Vamshi, the man behind dignified farewells for the unclaimed bodies

A Hyderabad-based delivery executive and cab driver Danala Arya has been taking the responsibility of the final rites of unclaimed and orphaned deceased bodies in Hyderabad for more than a decade. So far, he has performed the last rites of over 400 deceased persons.

Hyderabad: He does not often know their families or their background. But, when he gets a call or message about an unclaimed or unidentified person’s body lying in the mortuary or on the roadside, he ensures the deceased person gets a final farewell with dignity.

Meet Danala Arya Vamshi, a delivery executive by day and a cab driver by night, who has been performing final rites of unclaimed or unidentified bodies in Hyderabad for more than a decade.

It all began with an ‘A’ negative blood donation request for his friend’s three-year-old girl who was suffering from thalassemia in 2015. As the request could not materialise in time, the child passed away. This prompted him to start arranging blood for the needy patients.

In the same year, he began performing last rites of people who died without anyone to claim them or families who could not afford the rite. After making an initial request to the Karkhana police, seeking information on unclaimed bodies or economically weaker families unable to perform final rites, he received the first case through his contact who informed him about a person’s death in the Old Bowenpally area.

“I received a call from my contact who informed me about someone they knew who had passed away. I immediately went to the spot and took responsibility for his last rites and performed the ‘Pinda Pradanam’ ceremony as well on the third day. This man, along with his two children, used to live on a footpath after his wife left him,” recalls Vamshi, founder and president of the Helping Hands Foundation.

Later, the 29-year-old approached police stations, government hospitals, old-age homes and GHMC shelters, asking them to inform him about the death of any unidentified person to perform final rites.

Recalling a case that moved him emotionally, Vamshi said a woman passed away due to HIV at a hospital in Erragadda in 2022, leaving behind three children aged five, seven and 10.

“The woman’s husband left her. The five-year-old boy thought something had happened to his mother and she was in hospital for treatment. The moment he saw his mother dead, he started crying and saying, “Amma, wake up…”. It was really an emotional experience and I broke down,” he shared.

So far, Vamshi, a resident of Old Bowenpally, has cremated more than 400 orphan, unclaimed and unidentified deceased persons, mostly at a crematorium in Old Bowenpally, following due process.

Despite coming from a modest family, he received both moral and financial support from them. “Sometimes it becomes a challenging task to arrange money and conduct the deceased person’s final rites, which requires a minimum of Rs 12,000. Apart from my own earnings, my family and contacts extend financial support. I sought financial support from IT professionals, whom I pick up and drop, but there is no positive response from them,” he said.

Interested individuals who wish to financially support the cause can reach Vamshi on his mobile number 6300372886. He can also be contacted for performing final rites of any orphaned, unclaimed or unidentified deceased persons. “I will perform rituals as per the deceased person’s faith,” he asserts.