Family of Santosh Mahto, a 25-year-youth from Giridih district of Jharkhand, who died in an accident while working on a high-rise transmission line in Malaysia on January 19 this year are still waiting for his body to be brought back home.
The family has been in touch with authorities to get the body home but his body is still lying at the mortuary of a hospital in Dubai due to bureaucratic hurdles.
"We received the news of his death the same day through a friend working with him. But unfortunately, we cannot conduct his last rites as we are still waiting for the body,” said Ghanshyam Mahto, father of the deceased.
The family approached Bagodar MLA Nagendra Mahto regarding this issue and the legislator said he brought the matter into the notice of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday.
"I spoke to the union minister soon after I received information about the case. On her directive, I have mailed her all the details provided by the family,” the MLA told the Pioneer.
Santosh is survived by wife, one son, two daughters, father and mother. His family said that he got a job as a labour in Malaysia through a registered contract firm in November 2018.
According to sources, there are around six million Indian migrants in the Gulf States of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Male, United Arab Emirates and Oman that have long been best destinations for millions of poor labourers, most of whom work in transmission line construction, transport and other low-paying sectors.
The government and non-governmental groups have received hundreds of complaints from migrant workers, ranging from non-payment of wages to torture and abuse over the years.
Bagodar MLA said that the family is in distress and that Santosh’s was not the sole incident of an unwanted delay in bringing back the bodies of citizens working abroad.
In another case, the body of Nunchand Mahto, a resident of Tirla village under Bagodar police station, was brought home after six months in January this year,” he said.