Bengaluru: The mother of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, who was killed in a suspected Russian missile trike in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, made an emotional plea to bring the mortal remains of her 21-year-old son home.
“We could not see our son alive, at least his body should be brought back at the earliest. Since yesterday, you (the media) have been running around this. Had you done the same a week ago, my son would have returned alive,” the mother said in Haveri, about 300 km from Bengaluru.
Naveen, a fourth-year medical student at Kharkiv National Medical University was killed when he stepped out of his apartment and went to a nearby supermarket to buy some provisions for himself and those bunked with him.
He became the first Indian casualty in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
BLURB: “I want to express our sympathy to the family of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar and to the entire Indian nation over the tragedy. Russia will do everything it possibly can to ensure the safety of Indian citizens in the areas of intense conflict…and a proper investigation of this unfortunate incident” – Russian Ambassador-designate Denis Alipov
The victim’s father, Shekharappa Gyandagoudar, appealed to the government to bring back his son’s body and requested them to look into the problems of medical education.
“Kindly look into the matter, and donation is very bad. Intelligent students are going abroad to study. (If) they plan to get their education here, they have to pay crores to get that seat. They are getting better education abroad …my son got 97% in PUC (pre-university),” he said.
The plea by the mother comes even as at least 3,000-5,000 Indian students are still trapped in Kharkiv, one of the biggest university towns in the eastern European country.
“Bringing home the mortal remains of Naveen, the Karnataka student who lost his life in the war zone of Ukraine, is the top priority for the State government. All help and cooperation would be extended to Naveen’s family,” Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
