Mumbai: Family awaits man's body month after he died in Saudi Arabia

They were told that their loved one died more than a month ago in a foreign land Yet this family from Vikhroli are yet to see his face or bid him a final goodbye thanks to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia who have been allegedly offering vague excuses and not cooperating with the family in their efforts to get the senior citizenrsquos body back to IndiaOn April 29 the family of Rajnikanth Dalal was told he had died due to cardiac arrest The family is still struggling to get his body back to India PicsSameer MarkandeThe deceased Rajnikant Dalal 62 had been employed as an auto engineer with a private firm in the AlQassim region of Saudi Arabia On April 29 his family wife Rekha daughter Khyati and son Devang received the shock of their life when they got a phone call from one Javed who identified himself as Rajnikantrsquos colleagueJaved broke the news to the family that Rajnikant had died due to cardiac arrest Khyati 24 who is pursuing chartered accountancy told midday ldquoFather used to call us every other day The last we spoke to him was on April 26 When he didnrsquot call us for two days we were worriedOn April 29 at midnight we got a call from one Javed who told us he had passed awayrdquo The family had last been together back in September 2013 and Rajnikant was the sole breadwinner of the family If losing him wasnrsquot enough the familyrsquos tribulations only got worse when they began their efforts to get his body back to IndiaOrdealFirst the family couldnrsquot believe it at all They tried calling on Rajnikantrsquos number to try and get some more details but nobody answered it They then got in touch with the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia who the family alleged have only been passing the buckldquoWe started enquiring with the Indian Embassy and they informed us his body had been kept in Buraidah Central Hospital in Al Qassim Saudi Arabiardquo added Khyati Then the embassy officials claimed that Dalalrsquos employer was not cooperating and that they were seeking help from the local police and had written three different applications to the police stationThe height of the embassyrsquos lack of empathy was when they told the grieving Dalals on Monday June 1 to collect the body from the cityrsquos international airport ldquoLast week the embassy officials claimed they had sent the body to India and asked us to collect it from Sahar Airport on Monday We made preparations for the last rites and went to receive the body at the airportBut the body never arrivedrdquo said Devang the son of Rajnikanth and a TYBSc student On Wednesday June 3 the embassy told the family they would have to redo the entire paperwork again because there has been a ldquodrastic change in the laws in Saudi Arabiardquo ldquoWe have spent more than Rs 10000 on phone bills in order to contact the embassy so that we get our fatherrsquos body back for performing his last ritesBut every time they come up with silly excuses We are devastatedrdquo Khyati said Helping the Dalals in their time of need are their neighbours Sajid Khan one of those assisting the family in the process said ldquoOur embassies abroad are to help us but this Saudi Arabiabased embassy has been fooling the family for the last one month They initially asked us to give them the power of attorney which the family has dispatchedSince then they have been giving these excusesrdquo The manrsquos wife Rekha 60 is still in a state of shock and sometimes feels like killing herself She said ldquoTill I see my husbandrsquos body I will not be at peace Nobody is concerned about our loss The people in the embassy are harassing us for no reason Looking at their casual approach I feel like committing suiciderdquoIn an email to the family which the family shared with this paper an embassy official blamed the sponsor for the delay in dispatching the mortal remains to India They claimed the sponsor had been asking for money to send the body and they had to ask a social worker to persuade the sponsor to complete the formalities The official claimed the social worker one Iqbal had even booked space on Saudi Airlines on June 3However the cargo authorities refused to take the body onboard claiming another clearance was required as per new Saudi government rules adding that this new paperwork would be completed by Sunday