Dhanora Jatan (Kurukshetra), April 22
Tears have literally dried up in the eyes of 80-year-old Gur Devi of Dhanora Jatan village of Kurukshetra district, who has now been waiting for the arrival of the body of his son, Somi Chand (46), who died in Germany 11 days ago.

The delay has happened because documents, recovered from the deceased, had revealed that he was not Somi Chand but Brato, a Portuguese and hence the German authorities are not ready to hand over the body to an Indian family.

The body is still lying in a mortuary of a hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he was living.

His wife, mother, three children and brother were desperately waiting for the body as they had not seen him ever since he left for Italy in early 1993. "He just used to make telephone calls twice or at the most thrice a month", informed Angrezo Devi, wife of Somi Chand.

Somi (46) was found dead in room no. 40227, Volkhs Garten, STR - 12, Dusseldorf, on April 11. When his family here failed to contact him on the telephone, it asked Satpal of Yamunanagar district, who too has settled in Germany, for a news about Somi. Somnath found the room locked and when repeated knocks at the door were not answered, he reported the matter to the police.

Since then, his family has been trying hard to get his body but in vain. "We do not know how he managed to get papers regarding Portugal. We have been told by the authorities in Germany that documents show that his address showed him to be a Portuguese”, informed Gurmail Singh, his nephew.

“We do not know when he reached Germany but we think he had lived in Italy for three years”, informed Angrezo Devi

According to his wife, he had been ill for the past more than a year.

The family had sent documents and family photos to prove that Brato was in fact Somi Chand to the German authorities through a German lady who was visiting her in-laws.

Just two days ago they took up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs which forwarded the matter to the Indian Embassy in Germany. “We received a call from the Indian

Embassy in Germany and they asked a lot of questions”, informed Ajay, son of Somi Chand.

The family has also faxed proofs of his identity to Germany via the Indian Embassy. The family is not sure if they will be able to see their beloved one last time or not.