10 months after death,family gets man’s body from Saudi

Tarkeshwar had gone to Dammam in April 2007 to work as a driver. In the next two years,he sent Rs 1 lakh to his family. When all seemed to be going well,Yadav died in an accident.

“After we came to know about the incident,I spoke to the doctor for whom my husband worked. He expressed his inability to send the body as the cost was too much,” said Yadav’s wife Ramela Devi. She then wrote to the Indian Embassy in Riyadh,but the matter lingered on.

“I don’t know why it took so much of time. We kept faxing requests to the Embassy to send my husband’s body and the death certificate. On their demand,I also sent an application stating all facts and a photograph of my husband. I stated that we don’t have the money to bring the body back to India,” she added.

On December 29,Ramela received a call from the Embassy,informing her that Yadav’s body will be sent to India. The next day,the airport authorities in Delhi called her up that the body had reached Delhi and will be sent to Lucknow the next day.

“We went to Lucknow to collect the body and brought it to Maharajganj on Friday evening,” said Ramela’s brother Chandra Bhan Yadav. The last rites were performed in Maharajganj on Saturday.

Besides his wife,Yadav is survived by four daughters and a five-year-old son. The family owns 1 bigha of land. Before going to Saudi Arabia,Yadav drove a taxi in Maharajganj. A friend Govind told Yadav that he could arrange a job for him in Saudi Arabia. “For a better future,he agreed,” said Ramela. Now an uncertain future stares the family.