‘I must repay those kind neighbours’: Air India crash victim’s husband faces deportation from UK

Sethwala says that the relief, if granted, will allow him to apply afresh for a new visa. Sethwala says he had moved to the UK in 2022 on a dependent visa with his wife Sadiqa, who had arrived in the UK to pursue a course in International Business Management.

In April 2025, barely two months before his fate turned upside down on June 12, Sadiqa and Sethwala had moved to Rugby town in England, where Sadiqa had landed a job and was looking forward to receiving her work permit within three months of probation.

Speaking to The Indian Express over phone from London, Sethwala says, “Sadiqa and I hail from financially weak backgrounds… Our families had no money to sponsor our shift to the UK but our neighbours had pooled in money for our UK dreams… When she completed her course and landed a job in Rugby, she was put on a three-month probation to receive the work permit. Meanwhile, she had also managed to get a job for me as well and we had begun imagining our life ahead, where we would repay our neighbours and settle down in the UK… I did not know that fate had other plans…”

Within a month of joining her new workplace, Sadiqa applied for leave to visit Vadodara with her daughter to attend the wedding of Sethwala’s younger brother. “We wanted to travel together but since I was also working in the same place, the manager refused to grant simultaneous leave to both of us… Sadiqa went ahead with Fatima. The tickets on the ill-fated flight had been pre-booked,” he says.

When the news of the air crash reached Sethwala, he rushed to India — resigning from his workplace as part of the condition put forth by the employer. After days of waiting, Sadiqa and Fatima’s mortal remains were handed over to Sethwala and the family from Vadodara.

“I returned to the UK at the end of June… I could not stay back (in Vadodara) much as the family reminded me of Sadiqa and Fatima. But when I returned to our house here, I had a breakdown. Just months ago, the apartment had been loud… filled with the scent of my wife and daughter, the sound of nursery rhymes… their clothes and belongings were all over. I could not sleep at night due to depression,” he says, adding that he consulted a private psychiatrist at the insistence of his friends and shifted to London, where Sadiqa and his cousins and friends have “taken care” of him so far.

“I attempted to reapply for a visa and find new employment that could process my work visa… But nothing materialised and my dependent visa expired in January…  The solicitor told me that I do not fit into the bereaved spouse category and this is a rare event where a plane crash has killed a resident UK visa holder…” he says.

Sethwala adds that Air India had also reached out to him, offering him employment at the Taj Group of Hotels in London but with his visa expiring in January, he had to refuse the offer.

Sethwala, who had cleared the foundation course for Company Secretary and was into taxation when the couple decided to move to the UK, says, “It was Sadiqa’s dream to build a better life that brought us here… She had completed her CA foundation course back there and we had a bright future… Now that she is gone, I must repay those kind neighbours, who had helped us in need.”

With no “closure” in sight, Sethwala feels living alone in the UK is the best option. He says, “Returning to India will constantly remind me of Sadiqa and Fatima, whenever I see my family, the children in the house… Sadiqa’s mother, who is my maternal aunt. The manner in which I lost them… did not get to see them one last time… I don’t even know if I will have a closure when the investigation report is out. We are waiting for the truth. Being in the UK with my cousins and friends will help me focus on work and life ahead…”

The Boeing 787-8, which was flying from Ahmedabad to London, crashed just minutes after take-off on June 12, 2025. It hit a medical college hostel building and burst into flames. The crash killed 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew members, along with 19 people on the ground.