German woman willed half her assets to tiger reserves

Having made a Kochi hotel room her home for 8 years,Elfriede Maria Schmid died lonely with no one to claim her body for 45 days.

A 77-year-old Austria-born German passport-holder,who had made a hotel room in Kochi her home for the past eight years,died last month. Her body,unclaimed for the last 45 days,was cremated on Saturday as per her wishes.

On Monday,the mortal remains of Elfriede Maria Schmid,along with the ashes of her beloved cat,will be immersed in the Arabian Sea. According to her will,Schmid has left half of her assets for the tiger reserves of Rathambhore and Sariska in Rajasthan,and Kanha,Panna,Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. The other half is for her son,with whom she seems to have lost contact.

Her assets include an apartment in Austria,two bank accounts and a post office account in Austria and another account in Standard Chartered Bank,Kochi.

Schmid,who was found unconscious in the hotel room on June 14,died the next day following a stroke.

A part of her story,including her assets,love for tigers and ashes of a cat kept in a jar,was told through her will that was recovered from the room 10 days after her death.

Recalls Chandrika Residency manager Sabu Sreedhar: She came as a tourist seeking room for a couple of days. She had a medical visa. Schmids interaction with the outside world was limited to a super market and a bank. She seemed to be fond of watching TV,particularly cricket matches. An apple,a few chocolates and two litres of water comprised her daily meal.

As per Sreedhar,who claimed to have pieced together information extracted from the lady,Schmid was married to a Pakistani Army officer,during her stay in that country as a staff of the German Embassy. The couple had a son,who,according to her will,had been working with a US airlines. Schmid was a divorcee. She came to India in 2000.

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After her death,the department of foreigners registration office in Kochi police tracked down her family in Austria. But they were unwilling to come here. According to sources at the foreign registration office in Kochi,Her son Julian Asphandiar Fatakia had not responded to our mails. But daughter-in-law told us to cremate the body. The German Consulate in Chennai was not forthcoming to our queries. Subsequently,the government suo motu decided to cremate the body.

Schmid loved cats. In the early period of her stay,she used to feed cats in the vicinity of the hotel. But nobody knows in which period of her life she had reared that much-beloved cat,whose ashes she kept with her until her death.

In the will,Schmid said,My son or his representative stands duly authorised to dispose of my apartment in Austria to raise fund for the tiger reserves. If my son who is holding a US pilot licence could not be located in the time period allowed under applicable law8230;US pilots association could be located for help.