Una man buried in S. Arabia; kin wanted body repatriated

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 1

A Una-based family is in a state of utter shock, anger and helplessness. On January 24, the family received the news of the death of its breadwinner, Sanjeev Sharma (50), in Saudi Arabia where he was working for the past many years. The family had barely come to terms with the tragedy and was waiting for the body when, on February 18, they received another shocking news from Saudi Arabia – Sanjeev’s employer informed them that the local Saudi authorities had buried the body.

“How could they bury my father there, especially when we had initiated the process to get the body back to India,” asks Nancy Sharma, one of Sanjeev’s three daughters. Neeraj Sharma, younger brother of the deceased, is equally shocked by this unwarranted action of the Saudi authorities. “We want the body to be exhumed and sent back to India so that we can cremate it as per our faith,” said Neeraj. “We initiated the proceedings for the repatriation of the body within three days of receiving the news of his death. We wrote to the Consulate General of India in Jeddah that we want the body back and, on its advice, authorised the employer to complete all formalities on our behalf. Yet, the local authorities buried the body,” he adds.

Besides, the family had approached Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur for assistance in the matter. Anurag had promptly forwarded the request to the External Affairs Minister on January 27. “Injustice has been done to the family. We have raised the issue with our External Affairs Ministry and our Embassy and urged them to take appropriate action,” he said during a visit to Una on Sunday.

The family, however, is running out of patience. “The body was buried as unclaimed. How could the body be called unclaimed when we have been reaching out to all concerned to claim it and get it repatriated?” asks Neeraj. “We don’t know if it’s the fault of our consulate, the employer or the local authorities. It must be investigated and the guilty should be given appropriate punishment. Meanwhile, the body should be exhumed and sent back to the family at the earliest,” he adds.