Mumbai beautician death: MEA steps in as kin say can’t afford to bring back body

The Ministry of External Affairs MEA took cognisance of middayrsquos cover page stories on the mysterious death of Mumbai beautician Sadhana Patel near Paris and contacted the Embassy of India in Paris for an update The Government of India is ready to extend all possible help to Sadhanarsquos family that is yet to believe that she is no more Sadhanarsquos kin also say they do not have the money to bring back her mortal remainsAs per Sadhanarsquos burial permit issued by Michael Gihr vice president incharge of the investigation at the judicial court of Paris on May 31 says her highly decomposed body discovered from a river near Paris on April 4 is no longer needed for the investigation midday has a copy of the burial permitldquoConsidering the diligent procedure and in particular the report of April 4 2022 Procedure 44442022 police station of Conflans Sainte Honorine noting the death of a female individual whose body was transported to the mortuary of Garches and registered under the number M22166 Tried Sur Seinerdquo reads the burial permit ldquoConsidering that it is no longer useful for the discovery of the truth to postpone the burial of the body of Sadhana Patel born in Amravati Maharashtra and whose death was recorded on April 4 2022rdquoSadhana Patel and her husband Shailesh allegedly illegally entered France in 2018 but became estranged after some timeHowever Sadhanarsquos Maladbased sister refuses to believe that she is not alive insisting that the family has not been shown a photograph of the body ldquoThey have sent us the photos of her belongings which are of no use to us How can we ascertain if the body which theyrsquore saying is of my sister belongs to SadhanardquoWhorsquoll bring the bodyOn May 24 the Embassy of India in Paris contacted Sadhanarsquos family via an email asking ldquoPlease let us know how the family intends to repatriate the body back to Indiardquo On June 1 Sadhanarsquos brother Gaurav Labade replied ldquoOur financial condition is bad and hearing the irreparable loss the mental condition of my mother has deteriorated So we regret to say that we cannot come to Paris You please cremate the body there in ParisrdquoOn June 8 the Embassy of India in Paris conveyed the message of French authorities which said ldquoIt is necessary that a person representing the family appoints them to proceed with cremation This service is chargeable Thereafter the ashes are given to the principal it is up to you to have them repatriated to IndiardquoldquoIt is possible to compile a social assistance file so that funeral expenses are covered by contacting the Paris 14 social action center Here again someone has to take care of the constitution of the file I got in touch with them in order to know the procedure to follow and they must call me back tomorrow I will come back to you at that time If no one mandates the funeral directors the body will be buried in the lsquocarreacute des indigentsrsquo in the cemetery of Thiais 94 it is up to you to explain this situation to the familyrdquo reads the mail by French officialsGaurav said ldquoThe Embassy of India in Paris had given us a list of agencies and they have been demanding huge money for repatriation of the mortal remains from Paris to India The charges vary between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh which we cannot afford It will really be helpful if the government of India helps us bring the body back to our hometownrdquolsquoSought help from allrsquoGaurav said they sought help from their local legislator ldquoWe have approached a local MLA from Gujarat Pradipsinh Jadeja to help them bring the mortal remains We are getting the documents ready for the samerdquo A highly placed source in the MEA said that the Embassy of India in Paris is aware of the case and officials are taking all measures to assist Sadhanarsquos familyldquoThese are consular issues which we do not make any comment on The brother of the deceased is directly in touch with the Embassy of India in Paris The Gujarat government is also trying to help the family in Indiardquo said the government sourceldquoThe body is really bad in shape and it can only be recognised after a DNA test If they want to bring the body back to India I am not sure whether they have money to bring it but if it has to be brought at government expense there are certain requirements for it and one has to go through the proceduresrdquo he said The government source said that the family in India is giving ambiguous responses to the Embassy of India in Paris on whether they want to bring the body back to IndialdquoThe family is yet to make a decision whether they want to cremate the body in Paris or they want to bring back the body to India So there is no clear message from the family till now Also her estranged husband has run away from the country I donrsquot know for what reasons and thatrsquos a different issue altogether So the question arises what will happen with the body which is lying in the morguerdquo said the sourceEither the family or the government will need to pay for bringing back the body from France to India the source said ldquoIn certain cases yes we have helped the people who really cannot really afford to bring the body back from foreign nations So in this particular case the Embassy of India in Paris will take the decision based on the situation as the Gujarat government is also involved now to help the familyrdquoAlso Read Mumbai Refused money man posts his girlfriendrsquos nude pictures onlineldquoYes we have contacted the Embassy of India in Paris after midday report published on June 16 and got to know about the above development The Embassy of India is taking all measures to assist the familyrdquo the source added Gaurav told midday that the Embassy of India in Paris has sent a mail regarding procedures for transporting mortal remains to India4Date in April when Sadhanarsquos body was found