• Four Years On, Kin Await 'Body' of Vellore Man From Saudi

  By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS

  Published: 05th October 2015 05:00 AM
  Last Updated: 05th October 2015 

VELLORE:  Fifty-five-year-old Kousalya last saw her husband, K Subramanian, who was working in Saudi Arabia,  more than four years ago and was informed of his death in a road accident on July 3, 2011. However she and her 34-year-old son refuse to believe he is dead and have not only refused government compensation of approximately `2.39 lakh but also allege a lack of transparency in the whole matter. They continue to expect him to show up at their front door, despite the central government and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, notifying them of his death.

Kausalya, Venkatesan looking at a family album with pic of Subramanian

Despite the communication from official sources both in Saudi Arabia and India of Subramanian’s death, there seem to be valid reasons for his family to suspect the legitimacy of the claim that Subramanian did indeed die in a traffic accident.

The background to the story is as follows: Subramanian was working as a joint-wheel operator for 13 years in an amusement park of Al-Hokair Group and Sons in Saudi Arabia.  He visited his family last in February 2011, according to Subramanian’s son, Venkatesan, a resident of  Ambur Town.

Subramanian’s relative, Kumar, who was then the chief accountant of the company in which Subramanian was working for, informed Kousalya that her husband had met with a road accident and died on July 3,2011.

“My brother-in-law (Kumar) was at his native place in Polur when the accident in which my husband was reportedly killed, occurred. He informed me about (my husband’s) death over the phone. But till date, there is no evidence to prove my husband was killed in the accident,” said Kousalya.

The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has reported that “Kandasamy Subramanian, an Indian National, died in Saudi Arabia” and sent a cheque of `2,39,722 to the Indian government pertaining to legal dues in respect of the deceased. An official told Express that it should have been handed over to the deceased’s legal heirs. The family however, has refused to collect the money.

“My uncle (Kumar) told me and my mother to arrange for `2 lakh to bring his body back to our place. Though we were ready with the money, officials in the Collectorate told us not to give the money to anyone to bring the mortal remains of my father,” Subramanian’s son, Venkatesan said.

Kousalya and her son therefore refuse to believe either the Indian Embassy or Kumar’s account of Subramanian’s death. Kousalya has also given a written statement to the district administration that she did not want the legal dues (compensation) from the government and continues to suspect something is wrong.

“There is a lot of ambiguity over my father’s alleged death. Nobody has produced any evidence to prove the death.  There was not even a clear communication of the nature of  the accident in which my father allegedly died,” Venkatesan added.

With hopes of seeing Subramanian ever again dimming with each passing day, the family continues to hope that he is alive and will come back to them. With no photographic evidence of Subramanian’s death, no clear reasons given as to why the mortal remains were not sent back to India and no specific details as to how Subramanian died the family’s hopes are not entirely unreasonable