Saturday June 10, 2017
Efforts to bring back Hamid Juneja, an injured Kutchi sailor, from Somalia went in vain as he succumbed to injuries on Friday.
His family members, who lost their sole bread winner, gave their consent to have his last rites performed in Somalia because neither can they go there nor afford to bring his body home.
Juneja, 30, had suffered severe injuries to legs and the spine while unloading cargo in Kismayo in Somalia on May 21. He leaves behind a family of six, including his four-year-old child. Juneja had gone to Somalia aboard a Sri Lankan ship Fahad around two months ago. After he was injured, he was taken to Kismayo General Hospital and later admitted to the Turkish Hospital in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu.
An official of the high the commission of India serving Somalia said that Juneja, a native of Mota Salaya village of Mandvi taluka of Kutch, breathed his last around 2.45am on Friday. "He died due to cardiac failure after battling death for around 20 days. It is unfortunate," the official said. "We informed his family about his demise and they conveyed to us their consent to have his last rites performed in Mogadishu." Hussain Juneja, the victim's uncle, said, "We sent a power of attorney signed by his wife Shahenaz and his parents to the Indian high commission stating that we are unable to come to So malia to claim his body .
" He went on to say, "We wanted to go there for the burial but we do not have sufficient money to afford flight tickets and pay for accommodation there."
Rohit Sharma, an Indian citizen from Jammu & Kashmir who is based in Somalia, said that Juneja's attendant, Isa Sindhi, informed him about his death. Sharma, who was coordinating with the staff of the Turkish Hospital, said that Juneja's last rites would be performed by Sindhi on Friday.