Engineer dies on foreign soil; after much struggle, last rites held at family farm

Mysore/Mysuru: An engineer from Mysuru, who had been to Qatar to see his doctor wife, died of a heart attack in foreign soil. His body was brought to Bengaluru on Friday under the Vande Bharat Mission, thanks to the efforts of the Union and State Governments and Kannada organisations in Qatar. The last rites were conducted at the family’s estate on H.D. Kote Road yesterday.

Arun Lal, a resident of New Kantharaj Urs Road in Mysuru, had been to Qatar to see his wife Dr. Rekha who was serving there. He could not return to India even after his visit due to lockdown and was stay put there.

He died of a heart attack on May 15 and Dr. Rekha wanted to bring his body to Mysuru for the last rites. The Karnataka Government by then had passed an order that the bodies of people dying in a foreign land cannot be brought back to the State. The decision was taken as a precautionary measure amidst spiralling cases of COVID-19. Even Air India denied permission to take the dead body to India.

However, this decision affected Dr. Rekha’s plans as she could not bring Arun Lal’s body though it was a genuine reason. Learning about the doctor’s plight, Subramanya Hebbagilu, Mahesh Gowda and others of Qatar Kannada Sangha helped Dr. Rekha to secure a certificate saying that Dr. Arun Lal did not die of COVID-19 but of a heart attack.

Later, Dr. Rekha approached the Indian Embassy in Qatar, Air India officers and the officials of Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. When all efforts proved futile, Dr. Rekha and the Kannada Sangha members reached out to Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda who used his good offices in the Union Ministry to bring back the body home.

Sadananda Gowda secured permission from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to transport Arun Lal’s body to Bengaluru in a passenger plane. Under normal circumstances, Air India does not carry dead bodies in a passenger aircraft but in the extraordinary circumstances and due to lockdown restrictions, the national carrier obliged out of humanitarian grounds.

The Minister had secured special permission for Air India to carry the body from Qatar to Bengaluru. Accordingly, Arun Lal’s remains were brought to Bengaluru on Friday evening and it was brought to Mysuru by road the same night. The last rites were performed at the family’s property on H.D. Kote Road yesterday morning, confirmed family sources.