Athira bids goodbye to husband in Kerala
NITHIN CREMATED A DAY AFTER BIRTH OF HIS FIRST CHILD
The wife of an Indian expat, who died in his sleep in Dubai on Monday, yesterday bid a tearful farewell to him in Kerala just a day after delivering their first child.
A death notification issued by UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention said Nithin Chandran died of cardiac arrest.
His body was repatriated late on Tuesday on a charter flight from Sharjah to Kochi in Kerala. He was cremated in the premises of his house in Perambra area of Kozhikode.
Scores of people turned up to offer condolence to the family of Nithin, who was actively involved in social work, especially blood donation drives, in the UAE and Kerala.
His casket had a glass cover so people could see his face, his friend Bibin Jacob said.
How the news was broken
The news of Nithin’s death was finally revealed to Athira early yesterday. A counselling session was also arranged.
“She had expressed some doubts as he had not called her even after the delivery,” Jacob said. “She asked them why he wasn’t calling even if he was in the hospital since he had called her from the hospital last time when he was admitted.”
The ambulance carrying his coffin stopped in Aster MIMS Hospital’s parking lot for Athira and her family to see Nithin for the last time.
Huge media attention
The emotional scenes of Athira being brought to the ambulance in a wheelchair were telecast live by some television channels in Kerala.
The bereaved woman wore a face shield, mask and gloves and stoically bore the pain from the surgery on top of the mental trauma of not being able to even touch her husband for the last time.
The media was restricted from going near the ambulance during the 10 minutes allowed for Athira to bid a goodbye to Nithin, who had seen her off from Dubai airport on May 7 with dreams for a reunion after their child’s birth.
She gave birth to a baby girl through a Caesarean section that her relatives had opted for following the tragedy. Her relatives had got her hospitalised when her blood pressure shot up after she was told that
Nithin, who had a history of a heart ailment, had fallen ill.
Advocate Hashik T.K, a legal consultant and social worker who was involved in the repatriation of Nithin’s body, said social worker Ashraf Thamarassery, Hyderali Thattathazhath, president of Incas Youth Wing, were instrumental in repatriating the body.
Several members of Incas and Blood Donors Kerala-UAE chapter and other community members had attended the embalming session on Tuesday afternoon.
Nithin, who turned 28 on June 2, and Athira, 27, had become the face of Indians stranded abroad after she filed a writ petition in India’s Supreme Court seeking its intervention on repatriation.