He had studied in Nanjangud till PUC; body to be donated to medical college
Bengaluru: The mortal remains of a medical student from Karnataka, who was killed in Russian shelling in war-torn Ukraine, arrived at the airport in Bengaluru early this morning. Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagaudar, a final year medical student at Kharkiv National Medical University, died on March 1, in the conflict zone.
Gyanagaudar’s family members, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai were among the others present at the airport to receive the body. Bommai paid tributes and placed a wreath on the body at Bengaluru Airport, from where it was taken to the student’s native village Chalagere in Haveri district.
Naveen completed his primary and secondary education in Nanjangud as his father Shekarappa was working at South Indian Paper Mill. Naveen did his primary schooling till SSLC in Adarsha School and secured 604 marks out of 625 in SSLC and joined Unity PU College and secured 92.2 percent in PUC.
Naveen’s body was kept in a glass casket for people to pay their last respects. It was taken through his village in a procession. His parents have decided to donate the body to the SS Medical College in Davanagere. His family conducted the rites as per Veerashaiva Lingayat traditions.
People from surrounding villages lined up to pay their last respects to Naveen. Several students who returned from the war-torn Ukraine also paid their homage.
Stating that it is unfortunate that Naveen lost his life in the conflict zone, Bommai speaking to reporters said, “His mother was crying for the body to come. Initially, we were also sceptical about the possibility of bringing the body from the war zone. It was a herculean task, which was successfully conducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his huge diplomatic strength and image.”
Thanking the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and officials, for bringing thousands of students back home from Ukraine, he said: “this (bringing body) was just impossible because most of the time we can’t get the bodies of our soldiers from war zones, but here getting a citizen’s body that too from a third country, is just a miracle.”
This post was published on March 21, 2022 6:44 pm