46 days since son's death in Saudi Arabia, family in Kerala still awaits his body

It has been 46 days since Tins Joseph, a Keralite youth died in Saudi Arabia. However, what has compounded the misery for his grieving parents back in Kerala, is that they are yet to receive his body, as the formalities in this regard have not been completed in that country.

As per the latest information that the family has received, the authorities are waiting for the forensic report before they can send back the body. They were informed that it would take a week or more to get the report.

Tins Jose Ettaniyil died in Saudi Arabia on August 30, after inhaling poisonous gas emitted from an air conditioner. Tins was found dead in his room and it was his friends who informed the news to his relatives.

He is the son of Jose Sebastian and Molly Jose. Tins went to Saudi Arabia to work as a house driver, one and a half years ago. It was his first job in the Gulf country. 

He hails from Pambumkayam, a village at Mankulam in Idukki.  The 29-year-old was the sole breadwinner of the family. “His sister is married off. His father is running a small tea shop. The income he earns from that is very meagre and they live in a rented house,” Tins’s cousin Robin told TNM.

A Malayali organisation in Saudi is lending all support to the family to help bring the body back home.

Jose and Molly were understandably shattered after hearing the news of their son’s death. The couple are not willing to talk as they fear it would affect the chances of getting back their son’s body. “We can’t even name the Malayali organisation which is helping us. Since it has taken us so much time, we are afraid that revealing anything would affect the chances of bringing the body,” Robin says.

Jose and Molly are now admitted to a hospital in Adimali. Molly is under treatment for a tumour in the stomach while Jose was admitted on Thursday, following a variation in blood pressure. “Their illness is aggravated due to the mental agony,” Robin says.