For the Indian couple Abdul Nazer and Anzi Ali Bava, life in New Zealand was peaceful and promising until Friday’s mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch that shattered their dreams. Both were inside the Al Noor mosque in central Christchurch when the first shots were fired by a white supremacist, in one of New Zealand’s worst mass shootings, that killed 25-year-old Ali Bava and 49 others.
The couple borrowed some $48,000 to move to New Zealand from Kerala last year so that she could do a master’s degree in agribusiness management, which she completed just three weeks ago. Mr. Nazer, 34, was working at the local supermarket to help pay the bills.
Shattered life
When Ali Bava graduated, they hoped she would get a high-paying job and they would live and work in New Zealand. Friday’s mass shootings changed everything for the couple.
According to Tali Ao, Ali Bava was the brightest student on her course at Lincoln University. “Her professors, everyone loved her,” Tali said. On Monday, the university’s students and staff bowed their heads on the lawn for one minute’s silence in remembrance of the dead, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, the Kerala community in Christchurch has rallied around Mr. Nazer to help him through the tragedy.
They have started a Givealittle page to help him pay back the huge loan they took out in India to pay for Ali Bava’s studies in New Zealand.
Mr. Nazer wants to send his wife’s body back to Kerala to be home with her mother and brother in Kodungalloor in Thrissur district. Her father died several years ago.
Mr. Nazer is unsure what the future holds, but he says he knows he wants to stay in Christchurch, where he and his wife spent most of their married life together.
“She had so many dreams,” he says. “No one would expect something like this would happen. There are a lot of good people here... This shouldn’t happen to any family.” The Chief Minister’s Office has said that all efforts were being made to bring the mortal remains of Ali Bava from New Zealand.
