Surat: Last rites of 23-year-old Hamil Mangukiya, who was killed in a missile attack on Russia-Ukraine border on February 21, were performed in Surat on Sunday. His body was brought to the city via Delhi by air yesterday and then kept in the morgue of SMEER hospital till the cremation today.
Hamil, a resident of Shiv Bangla in Surat, had joined the Russian Army on December 23 as a security helper. His father Ashwinbhai Mangukia and his uncle had gone to Moscow to submit documents to the authorities to get Hamil's body. They have returned to Surat in a different flight.
According to Hamil's family, when they bid their son farewell three months back, they never thought he would return home in a coffin. After waiting for 25 days, the family finally cremated his body this morning. A large number of people came to the cremation ground.
Hamill's mother Bhagwatiben urged agents not to mislead any youth like Hamill when taking them abroad. "He was taken to Russia on a offer for support job but was pushed to die on the battlefield. No other mother should lose her son in this way like me," she said.
A relative said that Hamil wanted to work in a foreign country ever since he was a child. "He had got visas for Canada and Poland but since he did not get any attractive job offers there, he decided to go to Russia, where he was offered a support job. It would have been much better if he had opted for any of the job offers in Canada or Poland and gone there. We would then have seen him before our eyes today," the relative added.
Mohammed Asfan (30), a resident of Hyderabad, was also killed on the front lines last month. His family said that he was told that he would not be deployed on the front lines but would only have to assist the Russian army.
The Indian government has appealed Indians to stay away from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and not be swayed by the offers of support jobs with the Russian army
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