Family members of Sunesh Ram, who died in Angola. (Photo: special arrangement)
Gopalganj: The family of a 39-year-old migrant worker from Gopalganj district in Bihar, who died in a workplace accident in Angola, has asked the district administration and the Union government to help bring his body back to India.
Rajesh Ram, a resident of Bhitbherwa village, submitted an application to the district magistrate on October 23. In it, he sought the return of the body of his brother, Sunesh Ram.
Sunesh worked as a welder at Best Angola Metal - Industrias Angolanas de Metal Lda in the Cazenga industrial area of Luanda, the Angolan capital.
The family learnt of the death the same morning from Ganesh Yadav, a colleague of Sunesh. Yadav told them Sunesh had died in an accident at work on October 23.
The Gopalganj MLA, Subhash Singh, has also written to the Union external affairs minister, urging him to take immediate steps to bring back the body. In his letter dated October 23, Singh said the accident happened because of the company’s negligence. He added that the family is in distress and needs help from the Government of India.
A similar case in 2014
In 2014, Suryadev Yadav, a migrant worker from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, died in the same factory. His family waited more than a month to receive the body for cremation.
Suryadev died on December 1, 2014, in what was reported as a workplace accident at Best Angola Metal Company, where he worked.
The company reportedly asked his family to pay ₹16 lakh to send the body to India. The family approached the district administration and the then local MP, Kalraj Mishra, who was also a Union minister.
