Faridkot widow awaits body of 20-year-old son from Malaysia

Faridkot, September 10

Last year, when her 20-year-old son Karampreet Singh went to Malaysia, Daljit Kaur, a widow, working as a domestic servant at Nathewala village of Faridkot district, heaved a sigh of relief, believing that her son would not fall for addiction, like her 25-year-old elder son.

She thought her struggle for a decent living was over when she started receiving money from Karampreet in the subsequent months. The latter had been working as a gardener in Malaysia.

Two weeks back, Daljit Kaur received a call from a hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The man on the other side while speaking in Punjabi told her that Karampreet had been admitted to the hospital with brain haemorrhage. “A video of him lying on a ventilator in the hospital was sent to me and three days after, he succumbed to his head injury,” said the inconsolable mother.

“Four years after the death of my husband, any hopes of an end to my tough days of struggle had been again shattered. I had sent my son to Malaysia after selling half portion of my 8-marla house in the village,” she said.

Being an illiterate and having limited resources, Daljit had a tough time to make arrangements to get the body back. Some youths in the village helped her in writing emails and messages, through which she came to know that the hospital had a pending bill of 8,311 Malaysian Ringgits (about Rs 1.5 lakh).

“My son was declared dead on August 31 and the hospital had now raised a bill of about Rs 2.5 lakh and was going up every day for keeping the body in the hospital mortuary,” she said.

“I have requested the Indian Embassy in Malaysia and Punjab government for help in this regard.

“The family has informed me about the incident and I have assured them of making all efforts at my level to bring the body back,” said Kultar Singh Sandhwan, MLA and Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha.