For any child, the maiden aeroplane trip can be a source of great joy. Not for 11-year-old Thota Rajesh. He will soon fly to Abu Dhabi to get the body of his father Thota Rakesh, lying in a mortuary there — along with the bodies of three others from Telangana — for over four months now.
Rakesh was among the five labourers, all hailing from remote villages of Telangana, who died in a fire at their camp in Abu Dhabi on October 19 last year.
When the news reached the family, Rajesh and his four-year-old sister Rachana didn’t quite comprehend why their mother Bhagya Laxmi was constantly breaking down. Eventually, they were told by the elders that their father was no more and his body would be flown to India.
It’s been over four months now and the family is still waiting. “So far, no one was telling me when I could see my father’s body. Now they tell me I have to go there to bring it back,” says Rajesh, wiping a tear.
DNA match
More than three months after the tragedy, the body of one of the victims, Pitla Naresh, reached his family in Machareddy village of Nizamabad district, Telangana. Since the five bodies were charred beyond recognition, UAE officials insisted on DNA matching to establish the identity of the victims. A close relative of Naresh happened to be working in UAE, who gave samples for the test. Since the results matched, Naresh’s body was allowed to be flown in.
In the case of the Rakesh, both his parents died a few years ago. None of his close relatives worked in the Gulf. The only option was to send the eldest of his two children there. Passport was secured for the boy nearly two months ago.
But Nizamabad district authorities said the boy, being a minor, could not be sent abroad alone. His mother didn’t have a passport. So the boy’s maternal uncle, G. Bhaskar, who had earlier worked in Dubai and is now settled in the village, has been chosen to accompany him to Abu Dhabi.
“The delayed response of officials is dragging the matter. Even after so many days of pursuing, we are not sure when exactly we would be able to bring the body back,” says Bhaskar.
Equally poignant is the story of another victim, Malavath Prakash, 32, a tribal from Sattenpalli village in Khanapur mandal of Nirmal district.
Prakash went to the UAE in 2014 to work as a labourer and returned home after two years. He flew there again in September 2016, but a month later, came the news of his death in the fire accident. Since none of his close relatives were available in the UAE, the family has decided to send his youngest son Akhil, 12, to Abu Dhabi.
“Officials suddenly summon us to meet them urgently. Stopping all other work, we go there but are made to wait for hours together,” says Prakash's brother Subhash, who will accompany Akhil. They presented their documents and passports about a fortnight ago but are not sure when they will travel.
Also waiting to fly to Abu Dhabi is 55-year-old Muchindla Rajeshudu, to get the body of his son M. Naresh. Naresh, 28, went to Abu Dhabi in March 2015. He was married to Laxmi, 24, and they have a four-year-old son Ashwith.
“He was away for 19 months and we were hoping he would come home soon, when suddenly this tragic news came. It is a terrible feeling that my son’s body is lying there and I cannot get it here even after four months,” says Rajeshudu, sobbing.
Rajamani, the mother of yet another victim, Gandla Abhilash, still doesn’t know that her son died in the fire. “Abhilash used to speak to his mother almost every day. Worried how she is going to react to the news, we told her that he has been injured in a road accident and is recuperating in a hospital there,” says Abhilash's maternal uncle Rajeshwar. “At least if his body arrives, we can break the news to her and perform the final rites.”
Chittibabu, special officer of NRI Wing, Telangana, says that the bodies would be flown to Hyderabad “in a few days”.
“Since the UAE government insisted on getting blood samples of the victims’ relatives, we had to talk to each family to decide who should be sent there,” the special officer said.
The Telangana government, he says, was coordinating with the Indian embassy officials in the UAE. According to him, the employers of the victims would bear the expenses of the travel and the DNA tests.
