Picture of dead woman relatives smiling with her body goes viral

A picture of a family in India smiling at a funeral is going viral on the internet. The photograph was taken at Mariyamma’s funeral, a 95-year-old woman who had been unwell and bedridden for nearly a year. She had nine children and 19 grandchildren, all spread across the globe but most of them were at their family home when she died.

The ‘happy’ picture is being criticised on social media. At least 40 members of the family were seen smiling as they gather around the funeral casket for a “family photograph”.

“The people who cannot acknowledge the picture are those who have seen only tears after death. Instead of lamenting, the dead have to be bid adieu merrily. We have done the same,” said a family member of the dead woman in an interview with an Indian media outlet.

“We sat around her body and shared memories about her. Her life was so inspiring and we felt so proud of her. We all decided to take that photo with smiling faces as there was nothing sad to feel about grandmother as she had led a fulfilled life,” Mariyamma’s granddaughter Harsha Elma Joseph told Times of India.