Abu Dhabi: A tragic destiny took two boys aged 11 and 12 from two distant Indian villages to Abu Dhabi where they met each other for the first time: both their fathers died in a fire accident. There’s another thing the two youngsters have in common: they both want to become police officers.
Eleven-year-old Thota Rajesh said he used to share his dream with his father, Thota Ragesh, 28. The fourth grader has a sixth-grader sister, Rachna, who wants to become a doctor. “He [father] always supported us and promised to do everything to realise our dream,” Rajesh told Gulf News on Wednesday after giving DNA samples to identify his father’s body.
“He used to call up almost every day and ask about our studies,” he said.
Rajesh’s mother works in a small paddy field owned by the family.
“It is not enough for family’s survival; hence she works in neighbours’ land also,” said Rajesh’s uncle Bhasker, who accompanied him to Abu Dhabi.
Rajesh’s father and four other colleagues working as agricultural workers with a landscaping company died when a blaze tore through the workers accommodation they were staying in on Reem Island on October 19, 2016. They all were from remote tribal villages in South Indian state of Telangana. The bodies were burnt beyond recognition, which warranted DNA identification. One body has already been repatriated after a DNA matching done by a relative working in the UAE.
As Gulf News reported on Wednesday, six family members of the four deceased workers reached Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Rajesh was surprised to know that his new friend, Malavath Akhil, 12, also shared his dream of becoming a police officer. “My father [Malavath Prakash,32] always encouraged me. I will study well to fulfil this dream,” said Akhil, a fifth-grader, who was accompanied by his uncle, Malavath Subhash.
The boys’ uncles said their families were expecting to get compensation which would be deposited in the bank for their studies.
Gandla Narasayya, 56, a farm worker, came to identify the body of his son Gandla Abhilash, 28. During his two-year work in Abu Dhabi, Abhilash had visited home once to attend his brother’s wedding. “Next was his wedding …but,” the anguished father trailed off.
Muchinla Rajeswar, 58, a farm worker, said his four-year-old grandson still has not understood what it meant by his father’s death. The little boy still asks when his father Muchinla Naresh, 28, will come home next time, he said.
Mohammad Hilmy, Human Resource Manager of Gulf Dunes Landscaping and Agricultural Services, told Gulf News that the families of the deceased would receive Dh100,000 compensation from worksite accident insurance. “The disbursal of compensation could be arranged in coordination with Indian authorities after official procedures for identification of bodies completed.” The family members gave their DNA samples on Wednesday and results were expected in a few days. Once DNA matching is confirmed, family members can go back with the bodies, Hilmy said.
He said the company had to wait until early March for passports of the family members to arrange the visa for them. “When we received the passport copies, we arranged the visa for them within three days,” Hilmy said.
The family members said they had to wait for a few months to travel to Hyderabad, 200 kilometres away from their villages, to apply for passports with necessary documents.
