AHMEDABAD: It was 50 excruciating hours for Jesal Patel, 20, a resident of London and a law student at Brunel University. Her ordeal finally ended at the domestic airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening. Jesal, who had come out of a locked-down town of China due to the coronavirus scare, will be staying with her uncle’s family for the time being.
Her father Jignesh Patel told TOI that Jesal was on an internship with one of the top law firms in Shanghai as part of her course requirement. “She was living with a Chinese family that was very supportive. When the scare over the virus began, they relocated to Xinjiang, five hours from Shanghai. The cities and towns were getting locked down one after another,” said Patel.
The anxious family back in London wanted her back home even as the village in China had not reported any confirmed case. “I then took to social media, reaching out to all the top officials in the UK, seeking her safe evacuation from China. When it did not work, my family came out in support and booked her a ticket from Shanghai, which was not locked down yet, to Delhi — which was available earlier than the one for London,” said Patel, adding that his family including Jesal are all PIO card holders.
The family said that the five-hour taxi journey to Shanghai on February 4 was more expensive than an international flight. “She was subjected to multiple tests where she tested negative for the virus. She boarded a flight from Shanghai to Delhi on the same afternoon and landed at the airport at night. She was told at the airport that she will have to go back to Shanghai due to new directives of not allowing any foreign national travelling from China,” said Patel. Jesal tried to argue that she is a PIO card holder but the authorities remained adamant. She refused to board a flight and instead asked the authorities to arrest her if needed.
“The authorities finally paid heed to her constant requests and allowed her to take a flight to Ahmedabad. She landed in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening,” said Patel.
Her father Jignesh Patel told TOI that Jesal was on an internship with one of the top law firms in Shanghai as part of her course requirement. “She was living with a Chinese family that was very supportive. When the scare over the virus began, they relocated to Xinjiang, five hours from Shanghai. The cities and towns were getting locked down one after another,” said Patel.
The anxious family back in London wanted her back home even as the village in China had not reported any confirmed case. “I then took to social media, reaching out to all the top officials in the UK, seeking her safe evacuation from China. When it did not work, my family came out in support and booked her a ticket from Shanghai, which was not locked down yet, to Delhi — which was available earlier than the one for London,” said Patel, adding that his family including Jesal are all PIO card holders.
The family said that the five-hour taxi journey to Shanghai on February 4 was more expensive than an international flight. “She was subjected to multiple tests where she tested negative for the virus. She boarded a flight from Shanghai to Delhi on the same afternoon and landed at the airport at night. She was told at the airport that she will have to go back to Shanghai due to new directives of not allowing any foreign national travelling from China,” said Patel. Jesal tried to argue that she is a PIO card holder but the authorities remained adamant. She refused to board a flight and instead asked the authorities to arrest her if needed.
“The authorities finally paid heed to her constant requests and allowed her to take a flight to Ahmedabad. She landed in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening,” said Patel.
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