Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Indian government is gradually enforcing stiffer procedures to receive bodies of Indian nationals from foreign countries. This will further complicate repatriation of dead bodies of Indian nationals from the Kingdom.

In the latest case, an Indian house driver's dead body repatriated on Monday only after intervention from the highest level at New Delhi. Indian Civil Aviation Ministry and Kerala chief minister had to intervene in the case.

For some time, the Indian government through Ministry of Health, has made it mandatory submission of several documents 48 hours before the arrival of the dead body. It is also required to mention clearly that the person has not died because of any infectious/ communicable/notifiable disease of international health concern. It also required full details in case of natural death.

If the new rules are strictly enforced, death certificates issued by Indian diplomatic missions in case of natural deaths, become frivolous.

Most deaths being registered with Indian missions are natural with cause of heart attacks, respiratory failure as per medical reports received from local health authorities.

This stern rule was so far partially applicable at New Delhi airport; however, it seems other airports in the country are also adhereing to it. The attempt of applying similar conditions at Calicut airport in Kerala has triggered huge uproar from the Indian expatriate community in the Eastern Province and wherein Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had to intervene to repatriate a dead body from Dammam.

Jayaprakashan Damodaran (57), hailing from Wayanad district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, worked in Jubail and died of heart attack on June 12. Since then, his wife, M.K. Meera, in India was desperately seeking help to repatriate her husband’s body to back home.

The Indian Embassy in Riyadh came forward to foot the bill for repatriation and finalized all arrangements to send the body from Dammam to Calicult. However, an unexpected glitch surfaced at Calicut airport where health officials demanded several documents which the family in India or his friends and even Indian embassy officials in the Kingdom were not being able to provide and Damodaran's body was kept lying in the Kingdom.

Airlines offices in Dammam also denied booking pending submission of the required documents as per instructions from officials at Calicut airport.

“For the first time we had experienced such difficulty and after an uproar from the community in the Eastern Province, Chief Minister Vijayan has to intervene and sought the help of Civil Aviation Ministry in New Delhi” Abdul Latheef Valappil, who facilitated repatriation of Damodaran's body, told Saudi Gazette.

After instructions from Civil Aviation Ministry in New Delhi to officials in Calicut airport, the airline was able to confirm the booking.

A source in Yanbu recalled a case where a son had accompanied the dead body of his father to New Delhi. However, the airlines was instructed not to load the dead body. By then it was already loaded and was in transit in Doha. When the son began to search the body in the cargo section upon arrival he was told that it was held midway in Doha for health relevant documents.

A Jeddah-based social worker also narrated similar obstacles at Hyderabad airport in the past.

The dead bodies arriving in India need clearance from immigration, health, customs, police and import freight office.