india

Updated: Apr 28, 2019 09:17 IST

The bodies of an engineer and his young son have not yet been sent to India because Canadian authorities are waiting for permission from the wife of the deceased man and not because of any financial consideration, Indian diplomats in Canada have clarified.

Ram Niwas Mishra and his younger son drowned in an apartment block swimming pool in Winnipeg late last week. Responding to a newspaper report which claimed that lack of money had prevented the remains from being flown to India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed her displeasure with a tweet to India’s High Commissioner to Canada Vikas Swarup.

“Vikas, I am not happy to read this. The mortal remains of Indian nationals should not wait for want of money. Please send them to India without delay,” Swaraj had tweeted on Friday.

Indian officials clarified that money was not a consideration in the matter, as the Indian Consulate in Toronto, which has jurisdiction over Manitoba, the province where the city of Winnipeg is, responded that they had “assured full financial support for repatriation of mortal remains, but its decision will be taken by wife once she is out of psychiatric ward.” They said that the matter was a “top priority” for the Consulate and its Community Welfare Officer was proceeding to Winnipeg to “directly liaise with the hospital authorities and try and expedite the formalities.”

The Mishra family hails from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh.

The wife of the deceased Indian engineer is admitted in a psychiatric ward in a hospital in the city after being traumatised by the death of her husband and son. According to Canadian regulations, the bodies can only be released from the mortuary after permission to do so was granted by the next of kin, in this instance the wife, who is currently not in a condition to make such a decision.

Officials said they were waiting for her to recover sufficiently to provide the permission and thereafter prompt arrangements will be made to fly the bodies back to India.