Ramananda Sarkar, 43, stands by burning funeral pyres of COVID-19 victims in Gauhati, India, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Sarkar, who was deep in debt and desperate for money, took the job of lighting funeral pyres after failing to pay back a loan he'd taken to start selling sugarcane juice on a wooden cart. While Hindu's believe cremation rights are sacred and release the dead person's soul from the cycle of rebirth, those who actually deal with corpses are looked down upon. Sarkar said he alone has cremated more than 450 COVID-19 victims. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath), APTOPIX