Wife seeks mortal remains of Hindu man buried as per Muslim rites in Saudi Arabia
Delhi HC asks Centre about steps being taken
New Delhi, Mar 17: A peculiar case came up before the Delhi High Court on Tuesday wherein the mortal remains of a Hindu man, an Indian citizen, were wrongly buried in Saudi Arabia as per Muslim rites due to incorrect translation of his religion on death certificate by Indian Consulate officials in Jeddah.
The deceased's wife, who has been running from pillar to post to get the mortal remains, has approached the high court seeking direction to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to take steps to urgently exhume the remains and repatriate them to India in a time bound manner.
Justice Prathiba M Singh said the woman has been approaching the authorities since January, since passing away of her husband, and adequate steps ought to have been taken to bring back the body of the deceased to India to conduct the last rites.
Accordingly, the concerned officer from the MEA not below the rank of deputy secretary shall join the proceedings on March 18 to apprise this court about the update on steps taken and status on transportation of mortal remains of the deceased, the judge said, adding that it was an unfortunate case.
The Indian man Sanjeev Kumar had passed away on January 24 in Saudi Arabia, where he was working, due to cardiac arrest and his mortal remains were kept at a hospital there.
Petitioner Anju Sharma said in the plea that on getting the news of her husband's death, the family requested the authorities to repatriate the mortal remains.
Shockingly, on February 18, the Petitioner was informed that the body of her husband has been buried in Saudi Arabia while the family members of the deceased were waiting for the mortal remains in India.
The officials in Indian Consulate explained that it was due to a mistake committed by the official translator of Indian Consulate, Jeddah, who wrongly mentioned his religion as Muslim' in the death certificate. They also shared a letter of apology tendered by the official translating agency of Indian Consulate in Jeddah with the petitioner herein, said the petition, filed through advocate Subhash Chandran K R and Yogamaya M G.
It also said that neither the woman nor any of the family members gave consent to bury Kumar's body in Saudi Arabia.
Thereafter, the woman requested the officials of Indian Consulate in Jeddah to ask the local authorities there to exhume the mortal remain of her husband so that it can be transported to India for performing last rites as per the faith of the family.
Unfortunately, even after seven weeks of the death of the husband of petitioner, the authorities have failed to do necessary formalities to repatriate the mortal remains of Sanjeev Kumar to India for performing last rites, the plea said.
It also sought direction to the Centre to take appropriate departmental actions against concerned officials of Indian Consulate at Jeddah for their wilful negligence and also direct the authorities to do appropriate actions for obtaining a corrected death certificate of the deceased and supply the document to his wife.
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BJP workers allegedly attack children during Christmas carol roadshow in Kerala’s Palakkad: Reports
Palakkad: A group of children celebrating Christmas through a carol roadshow was allegedly attacked by BJP workers in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Sunday night.
According to local reports, the incident occurred in Pudussery area of Palakkad, where over 25 children, mostly aged around 13, were moving from house to house singing Christmas carols. Reports state that a BJP worker identified as Ashwin Raj, along with others, allegedly assaulted the children and vandalised their musical equipment.
According to the police and eyewitness accounts, the children were using a band set that belonged to a local CPI(M) office, which had the party’s name written on it.
Allegedly objecting to this, the accused and his associates reportedly lured the children on the pretext of offering them money and then assaulted them. The band set used by the children was also smashed.
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The Town Police have arrested Ashwin Raj, a local BJP worker who has been named as the prime accused in the case. Efforts are underway to trace and arrest the remaining accused who fled the scene.
Speaking to the media, one of the injured children said, “We were using the band just for fun. When they saw that it had CPM written on it, they took us aside and beat us.”
"We had given the band set that was in our office out of love when the children asked for it. The fact that these young children, who do not know the intricacies of politics, were attacked shows the criminal mentality of the BJP workers," local CPIM leaders expressed outrage.
A police officer told PTI that the arrested accused is already booked under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA).
The sections invoked include Section 192 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and Section 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), police added.
