In Sri Lanka, a unique pandemic trauma: Forced cremations Joanna Slater and Piyumi Fonseka, The Washington Post Feb. 12, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail 3 1of3A picture of a young Fathima Shakeela, who died of covid-19 at the age of 50 in December. Her body was cremated against her family's wishes.Washington Post photo by Piyumi FonsekaShow MoreShow Less 2of3M.R.L. Nihmathulla holds a photo of his wife, Fathima Shakeela.Washington Post photo by Piyumi FonsekaShow MoreShow Less 3of3 In his grief, Mohamed Niyas cannot bring himself to tell his wife the truth. She knows that their 2-month-old boy, who was born with a serious heart condition, died in January after being rushed to the hospital in their seaside town in Sri Lanka.