36 days after death, mortal remains of Rajasthan youth brought back from Saudi Arabia

Jodhpur, Dec 18 (PTI) The mortal remains of 19-year-old Ramesh Kumar Meghwal were brought back to his native village Meghwalon Ki Dhani in Rajasthan’s Balotra district on Thursday, 36 days after his death in Saudi Arabia.

After being stuck in procedural formalities, the mortal remains of Ramesh reached the Jaipur airport on Thursday afternoon, where they were handed over to his family, which left for Balotra in an ambulance arranged by Barmer MP Ummedaram Meghwal.

Hearing a petition on the matter on Thursday, the Rajasthan High Court had directed the state government to make arrangements to transport Ramesh’s body to his native village.

The family members, however, refused to perform the last rites of Ramesh demanding a postmortem considering the suspicious condition under which he died.

Ramesh’s brother Gainaram said the family suspects he was being persecuted in Saudi Arabia.

“We demand a post-mortem before the cremation to ascertain the reason behind his death,” Gainaram said.

Ramesh had gone to Saudi Arabia on October 11 to support his family. He died under suspicious circumstances there on November 13. The family received information about his death four days later on November 17.

On December 11, the Rajasthan High Court issued a notice to the Saudi embassy in India seeking a reply on the delay in releasing the mortal remains of Ramesh based on a petition filed by his mother, Teeju Devi.

On Thursday, Additional Solicitor General Bharat Vyas informed the court that upon the receipt of the forensic report, the embassy arranged for transporting the mortal remains of the petitioner's son from Saudi Arabia to Jaipur.

The court, while disposing of the petition, directed the state to make arrangements for transporting the body to Ramesh’s native village with utmost care and dignity.

Earlier, Ramesh’s family had sought help from Charmesh Sharma, former director of the Rajasthan States Seeds Corporation, who works to assist Indians in distress abroad.

Sharma had filed a petition with the president’s secretariat besides lodging complaints with the National Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of External Affairs. PTI COR ARI