Sushree Mohanty
An unconventional case was produced before the Delhi High Court, wherein the remaining mortals a Hindu man, who was originally a Indian resident, were buried in Saudi Arabia according to Muslim customs due to an inaccurate interpretation of his religion on the death certificate by the Indian Consulate authorities in Jeddah.
The wife of the deceased, who has been running from column to post to get the mortals, has moved toward the high court looking for directions to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to make moves to recover the remaining parts and send them back to India in a given time frame.
Justice Prathiba M Singh stated the woman has been requesting the authorities since the death of her husband and appropriate steps should have been taken to bring back the body of the man to India to conduct the last rite ceremonies.
Stating that it was an “unfortunate case”, the judge said, “The concerned official from the MEA not beneath the position of representative secretary will join the procedures on March 18 to inform this court about the report on advances taken and status on transportation of mortal remaining parts of the deceased.”
Sanjeev Kumar, an Indian citizen, had died in Saudi Arabia, where he was working, because of heart failure and his human mortals were kept under the care of a local hospital in Saudi.
Applicant Anju Sharma said in the plea that on getting the information on her husband’s passing, the family requested the authorities to take steps to bring back the mortal remains of Kumar.
To their disappointment, the Petitioner was informed that the body of her husband had been cremated in Saudi Arabia while their relatives were waiting for the mortal remains in India.
The authorities in the Indian Consulate stated that it was because of a mistake on the part of the authority interpreter of the Indian Consulate, Jeddah, who wrongly referenced his religion as ‘Muslim’ in the death certificate authentication.
“They likewise sent a letter of apology offered by the authority’s translating office of the Indian Consulate in Jeddah,” said the appeal, documented through advocate Subhash Chandran K R and Yogamaya M G.
It additionally contended that neither the woman nor any of the relatives agreed to cremate Kumar’s body in Saudi Arabia.
Subsequently, the wife requested the officials of the Indian Consulate in Jeddah to ask the local authorities there to send back the remaining mortals of her husband so that they can be cremated as per the Hindu religious belief.
“Sadly, even after seven weeks of the demise of the husband of the applicant, the authorities have neglected to do the needful customs to send back the mortal remains of Sanjeev Kumar to India for performing last ceremonies,” the plea added.
The petition also requested for a heading to the Centre to make fitting departmental moves against concerned authorities of the Indian Consulate at Jeddah for their negligence and also direct the authorities to take appropriate steps to rectify the death certificate of her Sanjeev Kumar.