Bihar man’s body stuck in Saudi, wife approaches MEA
The caller informed me that my husband was killed by Mohammad Waqas Ahmad, a Pakistani national
A 23-year-old woman from Bihar is struggling to bring back the body of her husband who was allegedly stabbed by a Pakistani co-worker-cum-room partner, in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Mahajni, wife of the deceased, Mohammad Sohail, 28, said she got a call from Saudi around 3pm on Saturday. “The caller informed me that my husband was killed by Mohammad Waqas Ahmad, a Pakistani national, who shared a room with him,” she told HT.
The woman from Sibotar village in Madhubani district in north Bihar said because of extreme poverty her husband was sharing a room with three others, including a youth from UP and two Pakistanis, one of whom had allegedly stabbed Sohail.
“The problem is we don’t even known the name of the city in which my husband was residing in Saudi Arabia. All we know is he was engaged by Al-Jazeera Company and left Mumbai on January 13 this year,” said Mahajni.
An agent had helped him reach Saudi on a visiting visa, about five months ago, she added.
Thefamilynowwantsexternal affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to facilitate speedy transit of the body through diplomatic channels. “We also want her to get an inquiry instituted into the murder of Sohail, ensure punishment for the culprit(s) and take steps to make the Al Jazeera Company pay compensation to us, as next of Sohail’s kin,” said Mahajni.
She expressed hope that the ministry of external affair moves fast for any delay might prompt the hospital concerned to even dispose of the body.
She also claimed Sohail was often humiliated by his Pakistani co-workers and room mates for being Indian.
Mahajni urged the BJP MP from Jhanjharpur in north Bihar, Birendra Choudhary, who met the bereaved family on Monday, to talk to the authorities concerned to help bring Sohail’s body home. Madhubani district magistrate Giriwar Dayal Singh told HT, he would talk to the officials in the ministry of external affairs, and arrange for the body to be brought back to India.
Women may be breaking the glass ceiling by serving in the army and flying planes, but nurturing children will always remain their responsibility, said a senior functionary of the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, the women’s wing of the RSS on Monday.
Speaking to HT, the head of the north-India unit of the Samiti, Chandrakanta said while it is imperative for men and women to be “equals” in a marriage, it does not absolve the woman of the responsibility to “hold the family together” and to “bring up the children as good citizens.”
After presiding over the closing ceremony of a 15-day training camp for 144 girls on Sunday, Chandrankta said the Samiti underlines the role of women as “nurturers” and “nation builders”.
To a question on why men as fathers do not have the same responsibility of bringing up children, she referred to the mythological “Mahabharata” where Arjun’s son Abhimanyu is cited to have learnt techniques of warfare while still in the womb.
“The youth does not know history and therefore don’t understand these things. There is historical evidence (from Mahabharata) that children learn things while still in the womb. How else did Abhimanyu break the Chakravyuh?” she said.