The body of a 65-year-old woman from Rajasthan’s Barmer district, who died in Pakistan last week during her visit to her relatives, was brought back to India via the Khokhrapar-Munabao zero point road route on Tuesday. The Pakistan Rangers handed over the body to the Border Security Force at the India-Pakistan border.
The deceased, Reshma, a resident of Agasadi village in Barmer district, went to Pakistan’s Sindh province along with her son Sahib Khan on June 30 to meet her sisters. She fell ill there a few days before she was scheduled to board the Thar Express connecting the two countries and died on July 25, a day before her visa was to expire.
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad swung into action after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asked it through a tweet to help out Reshma’s family members who had submitted a memorandum. Though a prompt action was launched with the help of Pakistan government officials to facilitate repatriation of the body, it could not be brought by the Thar Express because of delay in legal formalities.
BSF help sought
Barmer Collector Shivprasad Nakate said he took up the issue with the BSF to allow Reshma’s son to enter India along with the body through the road route parallel to the Thar Express’ railway line.
The body arrived at the international border near Pakistan’s Khokhrapar zero point railway station and was handed over to the BSF after the gates at the fencing were opened.
The body was first sent in an ambulance to Munabao for the immigration formalities and was later transported to Agasadi village, where Reshma’s four daughters and other relatives were waiting for it.
The Khokhrapar-Munabao road route was utilised for the first time on Tuesday after the revival of rail link between India and Pakistan through the Thar Express in February 2006. A fortnight before the train started, former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, along with an 85-member delegation, had gone to Pakistan via this road to visit the ancient temple of Hinglaj and other shrines in Sindh and Balochistan.
The rail link at Munabao was revived after a gap of 41 years.