Man Buried In Moscow Amid His Wife's Plea To HC To Get His Body Back To India

Congress leader Charmesh Sharma said the Russian authorities buried the body of Udaipur resident Hitendra Garasia.

A 46-year-old Rajasthan native, who died a few months ago in Moscow, was buried there allegedly against his tribal customs (Getty)

Kota (Rajasthan): A 46-year-old Rajasthan native, who died a few months ago in Moscow, was buried there allegedly against his tribal customs, a local Congress leader said on Friday.

Congress leader Charmesh Sharma said the Russian authorities buried the body of Udaipur resident Hitendra Garasia amid his wife's plea pending with the state's high court for a direction to the Centre to get the body brought back to India for its last rites by the family.

Sharma made the claim on the basis of an e-mail written to counsel Suniel Purohiot of Garasia's wife Asha.

The letter was purportedly e-mailed to Purohit from the office of Additional Solicitor General of India Rajdeepak Rastogi for the Rajasthan High Court.

The e-mail also had a draft copy of Power of Attorney attached to it, Sharma said, adding it sought Asha to authorise a Russian official for exhuming her husband's body in Moscow and arranging its transportation to India, in consultation with Indian Embassy in Moscow and another Russian official.

The letter sought a duly signed and notarised Power of Attorney from Asha to authorise a senior official of the Nikulinsky Inter-district Investigation Department to exhume Garassia's body.

The e-mail sent to Purohit on Dec 30 said, "In continuation to our telephonic conversation held on December 29, 2021, after which the proforma of the Power of Attorney was also made available to you on the same day, this office is yet to receive the duly signed and notarized power of attorney from the wife Late Hitendra, Mrs Asha."

"You are requested to urgently provide the same, as the official holidays in Moscow would be observed from December 12, 2021 to January 9, 2022, and any delay will further cause prolongation of the entire issue at hand," the e-mail said.

Reacting to the receipt of the e-mail from the senior Indian law officer's office, Purohit lamented that the body has been buried by Russian authorities without observing the local tribal rights here amid the deceased man's wife fervent plea to send it to India.

Purohit said he would apprise the Jaipur High Court on January 4, the next date of hearing of Asha's plea, of the gross violation of the deceased human right of being cremated as per his local tribal rites and customs and would challenge the Russian authorities' action.

The body was buried despite the understanding given here that it was lying in some morgue or hospital there, Purohit said, adding as per local, tribal customs, a household does not cook the meal in the home after the death of a person till his last rites are performed in accordance with local customs.

On the last day of hearing of Asha's plea on December 20, the high court had also asked the Centre not to give consent for the cremation of Garasia's cremation to the Russian government till the next date of hearing.

There was no immediate comment from the Ministery of External Affairs here.