Indian woman dead in bittersweet reunion

LAHORE: On Monday night, Sarla Jewataram Badlani, a resident of Indian state of Maharashtra, was on a train heading from the Wagha border to the Lahore railway station.

Sixty-year-old Sarla’s joy knew no bounds – she was finally going to meet her younger brother, Mahesh Kumar, after a separation of more than 16 years.

As the train pulled in to the station, Sarla disembarked and ran towards her brother to hug him. The two siblings cried as they embraced. Seconds later, however, Sarla fell unconscious. She had suffered a fatal heart attack and when rescuers took her to the Mayo Hospital, she was pronounced dead. Medics suspect Sarla suffered a cardiac arrest; her family has refused an autopsy.

Speaking with The Express Tribune, a distraught Mahesh said, “Sarla had been trying to get a visa for Pakistan for several years. She finally got her visa this year after four previous rejections.” He added, “We had so much to talk about; these things will remain forever unsaid now. I only had a few minutes with her even after 16 years.”

Sub-inspector Muhammad Latif of the Lahore Railway Station police said Mahesh, who had travelled to Lahore from Larkana to meet his sister, had requested an NOC from the railways police in order to allow the family to take the body away. Latif said the NOC was issued after the completion of legal formalities.

The home ministry also issued an NOC and Sarla’s body was taken to the Wagha border in an ambulance. Her remains were collected here by her daughter and taken to Maharashtra.

Officials at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad said a visa would be issued immediately for Mahesh if he wished to visit India for his sister’s last rites.

The visa will be issued on humanitarian and medical grounds on a priority basis, they said.


Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2014.