*** Official lethargy puts family in a fix | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Official lethargy puts family in a fix

It has been three years since M. Thirunavukkarasu, an expat from the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu, lost his life in a bomb explosion in Gudaibiya. But his family has not yet been able to get any compensation from the Bahraini Government due to the delay in procuring some documents from the Home Ministry of Tamil Nadu.

The incident occurred on November 5, 2012, when M. Thirunavukkarasu was in the house of his elder brother Sekhar here, who had fallen ill at that time.

On that fateful day, both Thirunavukkarasu and Sekhar had been on their way to a restaurant in the morning. Sekhar was just 10 feet away from the spot, where the bomb exploded around 5.35am.

The death of Thirunavukkarasu left the family in the lurch, as he was the sole breadwinner of the family. He was working for a restaurateur in Umm Al Hassam as a driver. After his death, his family-wife Kalaivaani, children Rathish and Keerthi- has been facing financial difficulties.

According to Sekhar, some social organisations came forward to help the family. The sponsor of Thirunavukkarasu paid Indian Rupees 100,000 (BD580) and made all arrangements to transport his body to India.

Thirunavukkarasu had a huge outstanding debt. Sekhar, who is working in Bahrain as a driver, repaid all the debts by himself and also with the help of the donations from others.

But Thirunavukkarasu’s family has not been able to claim any compensation from the Bahraini Government. Sekhar had long back approached the Indian Embassy seeking help to claim compensation. The embassy had asked for some certificates from the Home Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government. After marathon efforts, the family succeeded in securing the copy of the certificate duly attested by the competent authorities. But the embassy later asked Sekhar to bring the original certificate from the Home Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government. “But the office of the Home Secretary is dilly- dallying to issue the original certificate,” lamented Sekhar.

“His wife is a homemaker. I have not been able to help them much due to my limited source of income. The delay in procuring necessary certificates from the authorities drags all the process,” Sekhar added. 

 

Photo Caption: The family of M. Thirunavukkarasu, who died in an explosion 

 

 

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M. Thirunavukkarasu