Body Of Soumya Santhosh To Be Brought From Israel to India Today
(This was originally posted in Hindustan Times by Karan Manral)
Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan said on Friday that mortal remains of Soumya Santhosh, an Indian national from Kerala, who lost her life in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestine-based Hamas, are being repatriated to India today.
“The mortal remains of Ms Soumya Santhosh, who was killed in rocket attacks from Gaza, are being repatriated today from Israel to Kerala through Delhi. They will reach her native place tomorrow,” Muraleedharan tweeted, adding that he will personally receive Santhosh’s remains in Delhi.
Earlier this week, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the state government was in touch with the external affairs ministry and the embassy of Israel in Delhi to bring back the body of the 32-year-old Santhosh, who was working as a caregiver in Israel for the last seven years. A native of Idukki, she lost her life on Tuesday when the building she was residing in, in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, was hit by a rocket fired by Hamas. She was on a video call with her husband when her building was hit by the rocket.
Israel’s deputy chief of mission to India, Rony Yedidia Clein, on Thursday told news agency ANI that Israeli authorities will take care of Santhosh’s family, which includes her nine-year-old son. Ron Malka, the country’s ambassador to India, too, reached out to her family, extending his condolences to her near and dear ones. Malka also drew a parallel between Santhosh’s son and Moshe, an Israeli teenager who lost his parents as a toddler in Mumbai during the November 26, 2008 terror attacks in the city.
