Domes, the deceased and the dangerous connection

In modern society, many people live a lifetime and never see a dead body. Perhaps we prefer to deny death, we no longer expect to deal with the deceased. Thus, the mortuary is a separate and isolated place, detached from common experience. Just like mortuary, the workers here called dome are also isolated and detached from society. Not just in cultural and social marginalisation, domes in Dhaka are exposed to hazardous sources of medical waste that can cause some serious infections.
In observing them and speaking with them, two questions are obvious: why do they do it and how do they cope? The answer to the first question seems to be that they accept their position, more through extreme fatalism than any sense of reward or worth. The answer to the second seems to lie partly in their relationship with the dead bodies, to which they attribute powers and motives, and partly in resorting to alcohol, linked to an apparent immunity from the normal restrictions placed on alcohol consumption in Bangladesh.
In the West at least, those who do choose mortuary or funeral work as a career may find it rewarding. Nevertheless, those working with death can be seen as “less than human,” or on the edge of society. They may suffer from work-related emotional and psychological disturbance, and may adopt emotional beliefs relating to the relationship between themselves and the deceased in order to cope.
Mortuary workers in the sub-continent tend to be drawn from poor or disadvantaged communities. These groups may be known as dalits (literally: downtrodden, crushed). It is recognised that individuals in these groups are subject to significant pressures, whatever their profession, which may result in psychological problems. For example, individuals from scheduled castes are more likely to be regular alcohol users.
In order to cope with their livelihood activity, people adapt pragmatically to the present situation and emotionally by adopting several beliefs. It is not surprising, therefore, that domes resort to alcohol, even in the face of official restrictions. Again, those who already use alcohol take up work as domes because of the relative lack of restriction, or because they are already desensitised.
Like others in their profession around the world, dome suffers the compounded stress of social ostracism and a uniquely unpleasant job. This can lead to dehumanisation. Superimposed on this are the privations and exclusions associated with their position as dalits, so they find few rewards among the living and seek rewards in their relationships with the dead or through alcohol abuse.

The writer is the Head of the Department, Geography and Environmental Science, Begum Rokeya University Rangpur.
E-mail: m.patwary@tees.ac.uk