Nitin Garg, who was killed by unidentified assailants in Australia, was cremated in his native town of Jagraon, 125 km from here, on Sunday.
Nitin’s younger brother Harish lit the funeral pyre in the local cremation ground.
His body arrived on Sunday morning from Delhi, where it was brought from Australia on Saturday evening. Nitin’s father Fateh Chand died in July last year.
The family comprises Nitin’s 98-year-old grandfather Mohan Lal. Nitin’s mother said that if she knew this would be her son’s fate, she would not have allowed him to return to Australia after his last visit.
He went to Australia about three years ago to pursue an MBA course. He returned home late last year after getting a permanent residency certificate.
The inconsolable family was joined by hundreds of mourners at the funeral procession from the 21-year-old’s residence in Vijay Nagar.
Among those who laid wreaths on the body was First Secretary in the Australian High Commission Tim Hiengs. Mr. Hiengs offered condolences to the family on behalf of his Australian government and its people. “I expressed my condolences to the bereaved family. I told them that the Australian government and the people of Australia join us in condoling the death of Nitin…I assured them that the Australian government is working on the case and the guilty would be punished,” he said.
Others who laid wreaths included Ludhiana MP and Congress general secretary Manish Tewari, Punjab Jail Minister Hira Singh Gabria, who represented the Chief Minister, Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg, Jagraon Superintendent of Police Harinder Singh Chahal and a number of MLAs.
