Seeking repatriation of body from S Arabia, kin move Delhi HC

Subhash Rajta

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Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 14

Family of Una resident Sanjeev Sharma (50), who had died on January 24 in Saudi Arabia where he was working for the past many years, has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court for repatriation of the body. His family had initiated the process to repatriate the body within three days of his death, but on February 18, they received a news from Saudi Arabia — Sanjeev’s employer informed them that the local Saudi authorities had buried the body.

Ever since, the family has been running from pillar to post to get the body repatriated but to no avail. “We have filed a petition in the Delhi High Court. Having received mere assurances from various quarters, we were left with no other option,” said deceased’s eldest daughter Nancy, adding that, “Our petition will be heard on Monday. We hope that the court will understand the pain and anguish we are going through and help us in getting the mortal remains of our father.”

Tired of empty assurances, Nancy said, “My father died almost seven weeks back in Saudi Arabia and it’s been around three weeks since he was buried there. We have been requesting the authorities to at least exhume and preserve the body, but in vain. Are the Saudi authorities and our government waiting for the body to decompose before being repatriated?”

The past two months have been extremely traumatic for the deceased’s wife and three daughters. “We did not perform any of the post-death rituals as we thought we would get the body. My mother is in depression and doesn’t speak to anyone. As my father was the only breadwinner, I need to look for a job to support my family, but I am stuck in doing what the government should have done,” said Nancy.

In the death certificate sent to them, the religion of Sharma has been mentioned as Muslim and his date of birth is incorrect. Talking about the Consulate General of India in Jeddah, Nancy said, “They did nothing to stop the burial, get the body repatriated or get a correct death certificate issued. We have sought action against the person responsible for mishandling our case.”