India to bring body home from New Zealand

It’s endless wait for the family of Anzi Ali Bava, 25, the student from the southern Indian state of Kerala killed in Christchurch mosque shooting last week.

They say they have no idea when her body will arrive for burial here. So are the authorities busy preparing for the April 23 parliamentary elections.

“The local legislator called me and said they will bring the body at the earliest. It may take a few more days,” her uncle Naushad Karippakulam told Gulf Today.

A Whatsapp message from the office of the chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, said they were in constant touch with the Indian high commissioner in New Zealand.

“The high commissioner had spoken to the police authorities there,” it said adding that they would be able to bring the body home in four days once the police release the body.

“On Sunday morning, the police authorities told the high commissioner that they would release the body in 24 hours.”

That deadline has passed and the family had no information so far. They are all waiting at their small rented house in Kodungallur in Trichur district.

“We are in touch with the authorities to get her body back. We don’t know how many days it’ll take,” he said. The girl was pursuing her masters in agribusiness management at Lincoln University with a bank loan of Rs3 million.

Her father Ali Bava died six years back and her mother, Rasiya Bava, 50, is a homemaker. She has a younger brother, Asif Bava, 20, who is an undergraduate multimedia student.

The children were pursuing their studies supported by their relatives.

She migrated to New Zealand a year ago ater completing her undergraduate studies in agriculture technology and her marriage with Ponnath Abdul Nazar.

Later, she took her husband along and he started working at a local store there. Both were in the mosque when the atacker fired at them but the husband escaped death.

Nazar is now undergoing treatment and cannot speak on the telephone. The couple was living in Deans Avenue.

“Her mother and brother were dreaming big about her. She had almost finished her studies, and the couple was to return in December,” Karippakkulam, younger brother of Bava, said.

The news shook them all. Anzi used to call home almost every day and Rasiya was awaiting her call on Friday.