UAE expat's body rejected by poor family repatriated to India

Ajman - Family refused to take responsibility of the body as they are from an extremely poor background.

A 50-year-old Indian worker's mortal remains, which has been kept at the Ajman Mortuary since April 12 this year, was finally handed over to his family on August 23, Khaleej Times has learnt.
Four months back, Ajman Police found the worker's body, identified as Yusuf Khan Rashid Khan, in an old workers' accommodation in the Al Rashidiya area in Ajman.
As per the death certificate issued by the Crime Laboratory of Ajman Police, the worker was intoxicated at the time of death and said to have committed suicide. The man did not have any document except a copy of his visit visa, making it impossible to trace his next of kin.
Since no one came forward to claim the body, police authorities alerted officials from the Consulate General of India (CGI) in Dubai, and the Indian Association in Ajman on July 4 this year.
Thanks to the combined effort of Ajman Police, Indian Association in Ajman, the Madhya Pradesh State Police, and the Indian Consulate, the four-month long hunt to trace the worker's family finally came to an end in mid-August. Khan's family was traced to a small village in Nagda, 59km from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India.
The Indian Consulate in Dubai undertook all expenses incurred in the repatriation process and according to Roop Sidhu, general secretary of the Indian Association in Ajman, the worker's body left from Dubai on August 23 to reach Ujjain on August 24. It was later found that Khan was a father of five children ­- four daughters and one son.
Tracing Khan's family
After police ran a thorough search of Khan's belongings in the his accommodation, they could not find his passport. Sidhu said: "Luckily, his passport number was mentioned on the visit visa copy and the Consulate provided me with his address details. I traced it to a location near 'Prakash Talkies in Rajeev Nagar in Ujjain."
Sidhu connected with the Rajeev Nagar Police station, which upon investigation said there was no one such a name or person in their jurisdiction. "The news of his death was even announced at a local mosque; however, no one came forward," added Sidhu.
Later, the Indian Consulate in Dubai pulled out Khan?s passport application where another address was mentioned. "The second address was in a place called Nagda, 59km away from Ujjain. Finally, Nagda Police helped me to reach to his family. The police traced them in two hours. They alerted the family about Khan's death," he said.
"The family was completely unaware that he was dead. They thought he had gone to the Gulf to look out for a job," said Sidhu.
To the shock of the Indian officials, the family refused to take responsibility of the body as they are from an extremely poor background. "They could not afford to pay for repatriation costs, neither could they afford to send someone to take him back to India," he added.
However, the Indian Consulate agreed to pay for all expenses incurred in his repatriation. Sumathi Vasudev, the labour attaché with the CGI, said: "With active support from the Indian Association in Ajman, we located Khan's address and family. The consulate paid for all expenses incurred for his repatriation, including air ticket. The consulate also arranged for an attendant to accompany the body to India."
Sole breadwinner of family
Amanuddin Sheikh, a family friend of the family Nagda told Khaleej Times that Khan was the sole breadwinner in the family and since his death, they are in a very bad state. "The body reached here on August 24, and the funeral was on the same day. He has five children - four daughters and one son."
According to Sheikh, Khan left for UAE in the lookout for a new prospect on January 18 this year, his first visit to the UAE. He added: "The daughters are still young, and only one is married. The others are still unmarried. The mother is alone and is trying to manage to raise the kids. The older brother passed away a while ago, no one is helping them out. A few people in the locality are trying to do something for them, but the kids and their mom are struggling. Only two daughters and one son attend school."
According to Sidhu, "Repatriation of mortal remains does not take over three days. In this case, it took us almost a month to trace the family. These are rarest of rare cases, does not happen very often."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Ajman
• India