Sharjah: Fresh engineering graduate Duke Banerjee was looking forward to his first Christmas in Dubai. Not only was he planning to celebrate what would have been his dad Gautam’s 53rd birthday but also hoping to find a job over the New Year. For a family living apart for a decade because the father worked in the UAE, it made for a perfect Yuletide reunion.
All that came to naught on December 11 when Gautam was found dead in his one-bedroom apartment in Sharjah’s Al Nahda. His body was decomposed when it was discovered by police. He died of cardiac arrest on December 7, a post mortem report confirmed.
last conversation
His wife Devi Banerjee, 45, who spoke to him the previous day said: “We talked on the phone almost every day and that Friday wasn’t any different. We spoke for almost 45 minutes and he kept asking about us, like always. He never spoke much about himself, not even that evening.”
“We missed his birthday last year for the first time because he couldn’t come down. He had instead hosted his ageing mum in the UAE. So we were certain that we would make it here this time,” she said, making her way to the Prosecution’s office at the Sharjah Courts earlier this week.
She arrived here on a 14-day emergency visa on December 13 with her son Duke and brother-in-law.
For days they ran from pillar to post trying to complete tedious paperwork that could let Devi claim her husband’s body for his last rites.
“With little support from Gautam’s office we could do nothing apart from changing two hotels because of mounting expenses,” she said.
Maria Fernandes, managing director of MAClines where Gautam worked for just over a month said they were under no obligation to help.
“He was still under probation when he resigned. We cancelled his visa on November 11. But when he didn’t show up even after a month, we put up an absconding notice against him.”
XPRESS learnt of her desperate situation on Tuesday and introduced her to Ajman-based Ashraf Palarakunnumal who has helped repatriate over 1,700 bodies for free.
On Wednesday, exactly a week after Gautam’s body was discovered, the court gave Devi a no-objection certificate required for cremation on Thursday morning.
