Saudi govt locates grave of Hindu man buried as Muslim

NEW DELHI:  The Saudi Arabian government has located the grave of a Hindu man who was buried there as per the Muslim rights and is considering repatriation of the remains, the Centre informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also told the court that the Indian consulate in Jeddah has initiated legal proceedings in a Saudi court for bringing back the remains.

The submissions were made before Justice Prathiba M Singh during hearing of a plea moved by the deceased’s widow seeking his remains to perform the last rites in Delhi. The woman, who had been running from pillar to post to get the mortal remains, approached the high court in March seeking direction to the MEA to take steps to urgently exhume the remains and repatriate them to India in a time-bound manner.

On Thursday, the MEA told the court that they have taken all the steps they can to bring back the remains. The court noted the steps taken by the ministry and appointed an amicus curiae who has experience in such matters to assist the government.

The widow, Anju Sharma, in her plea has said that on getting the news of her husband’s death, the family had requested the authorities to repatriate the mortal remains.  Sanjeev Kumar, 51, had died on January 24 in Saudi Arabia, where he was working, due to cardiac arrest.

Lost in translation
Mortal remains of the Hindu man were wrongly buried in Saudi Arabia as per Muslim rites due to incorrect translation of his religion on death certificate purportedly by Indian Consulate officials in Jeddah