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Ritika Phogat, cousin of wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat, commits suicide after losing wrestling tournament

OpIndia Staff
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Ritika Phogat, cousin of wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat, commits suicide after losing wrestling tournament

The death of Ritika Phogat, maternal cousin of wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat has shocked the sports community. As per a report in MyKhel, Ritika Phogat committed suicide by hanging after losing the finals of a wrestling tournament as she could not bear the embarrassment.

As per reports, Ritika Phogat had participated in the state-level sub-junior, junior women, and men wrestling competition at Lohagarh Stadium in Bharatpur, Rajasthan between March 12 and 14. Ritika went in shock after she lost the finals by just one point which was attended by father of Phogat sisters, Mahavir Phogat.

Ritika who was just 17 years of age, had won many domestic as well as regional championships in wrestling. A resident of Jaitpur village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, Ritika had been learning and practicing wrestling for over five years at Mahavir Phogat, a Donacharya awardee’s wrestling academy.

Phogat Sisters

Phogat Sisters have carved a name for themselves in the sporting community after making India proud multiple times on international platforms. Geeta and Babita Phogat won gold and silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games that were held in Delhi. Geeta Phogat was the first female wrestler to ever win a gold at the CWG tournament. She subsequently represented India at the 2012 London Olympic.

Their younger sister, Ritu Phogat is a professional mixed martial art fighter. Similarly, their cousin Vinesh Phogat is one of the best freestyle wrestlers. She will be participating in the Tokyo Olympics later this year.

The family is deeply pained and in shock.

Man chants ‘Narendra Modi Zindabad’, stuns Rakesh Tikait and his supporters. Watch

OpIndia Staff
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Man chants ‘Narendra Modi Zindabad’, stuns Rakesh Tikait and his supporters. Watch

A video has gone viral on social media where a Narendra Modi supporter chants ‘Narendra Modi Zindabad’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ amid a crowd of ‘farmer’ leader Rakesh Tikait and his supporters.

In the undated video, the crowd can first be heard hailing Rakesh Tikait. And suddenly, at around 20 seconds, one man, in a loud, booming voice hails PM Narendra Modi. He chants ‘Narendra Modi Zindabad’, pushing Tikait and his supporters into a stunned silence. For a few minutes they watch quietly this man chant ‘Narendra Modi Zindabad’. Eventually, after overcoming the initial shock, they start chanting anti-Modi slogans even as the Modi supporter holds his ground, shouting over them.

It is not immediately clear where the video was shot. Tikait was recently in Bengal to campaign against the BJP in the upcoming West Bengal elections. He has extended support to the ruling TMC led by Mamata Banerjee who is currently the CM of West Bengal.

Jaipur: Islamic fundamentalists vandalise office of publication house after it had apologised for mentioning Islamic terrorism in a book

OpIndia Staff
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Jaipur: Islamic fundamentalists vandalise office of publication house after it had apologised for mentioning Islamic terrorism in a book

The office of a publication house in Rajasthan was vandalised by Islamic extremists over certain text in a book published by it. The publication house Sanjiv Prakashan of Jaipur became the target of the fundamentalists after it was found that a book published by them had reference to Islamic Terrorism. The publication house was attacked after it had apologised for the text in the book.

According to reports, three persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. Images shared by ANI show that the furniture and printed books kept in the office of the Sanjiv Prakashan was lying on the floor after the attack.

The contentious content is in a book on Political Science for class 12. The book contains a question, ‘What is Islamic Terrorism?’. In the answer, it says that Islamic Terrorism is a form of Islam, which has become stronger in the last 20-30 years. It mentions that self-sacrifice and unlimited barbarism, blackmail, forced money-grabbing and brutal murders in the name of religion or Allah has become the characteristic of Islamic terrorism. The chapter further adds that terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir comes under religious and separatist categories.

The controversial text

This was published in a ‘Pass Book’ for political science for class 12 published by Sanjiv Prakashan. It is not a main text book, but a guide book that contains questions and answers which help the students in preparing for the examinations.

Before the attack, several organisations and groups had raised objections against the book, including Rajasthan wing of the Students Islamic Organisation of India, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Rajasthan, Fraternity Movement etc. Following the outrage, Sanjiv Prakashan had issued an apology, and had also withdrawn the book.

Apology by the publication house

In a letter written to an Islamic cleric, the publication house said that some wrong words were printed on the 395 of the book due to mistakes of the author. Sanjiv Prakashan issued an apology for the same, and informed that they have stopped the sale of the book from the wholesalers, so that it can’t be sold in the market. They added that they will soon recall the book and destroy it.

Questions raised over how TMC MP Aparupa Poddar won election from SC reserved seat after becoming Arfin Ali following marriage

OpIndia Staff
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Questions raised over how TMC MP Aparupa Poddar won election from SC reserved seat after becoming Arfin Ali following marriage

TMC MP Aparupa Poddar, who now goes by the name of Afrin Ali, found herself in hot water today after questions arose online about her legal capacity to be the Member of Parliament for Arambagh. Since 2009, the Arambagh constituency has been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). However, since 2014, this particular constituency has been represented by Afrin Ali, who used this particular name in addition to her birth name of Aparupa Poddar at the time of the 2014 general elections

Aparupa Poddar’s additional name of Afrin Ali has fueled speculations regarding the religion of the Arambagh MP. As to whether Afrin Ali identifies as a Muslim or not, there are conflicting reports. According to an IANS report, Aparupa Poddar had accepted Islam after her marriage to her husband Mohammad Shakir Ali, who is a TMC councillor for Rishra Municipality, and had changed her name accordingly. However, according to a Hindustan Times report, Afrin Ali states that she merely changed her name after marriage and not her religion. Either way, it is established that Aparupa Poddar changed her birth name to Afrin Ali after her marriage with a Muslim husband on 9th August, 2007.

It is important to note that a practitioner of Islam cannot be elected to Parliament from a reserved constituency. Dalit converts to Islam or Christianity are ineligible to claim reservation benefits. This was made clear on the floor of the Rajya Sabha in response to BJP member G V L Narasimha Rao’s question to Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Speaking on the issue of eligibility to contest from reserved constituencies, the Union Minister clarified that, “Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order outlines that no person who professes a religion different from Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of a scheduled caste.”

This is not the first time that Aparupa Poddar/Afrin Ali has been a subject of controversy. In October of 2017, she had confessed to taking a bribe worth Rs. 3 lakh as a part of the Narada sting operation before the 2014 general elections. In May 2020, Afrin Ali and her husband raised eyebrows across Indian social media when they decided to nickname their newborn daughter ‘Corona’ after the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping through the world. The couple’s explanation behind the bizarre nickname was that “her name will continue to remind people of the difficult times the whole world had faced.”

Inching closer to Aatmanirbharta, Chinese investor gives up minority stake in made-in-India Twitter alternative Koo

OpIndia Staff
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Inching closer to Aatmanirbharta, Chinese investor gives up minority stake in made-in-India Twitter alternative Koo

As per the Economic Times, Shunwei Capital, a Chinese venture capital firm has given up its minority stake in Bombinate Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the parent company of Indian homegrown mircoblogging site- Koo.

Their exit made way for former Indian cricketer Javagal Srinath, BookMyShow founder Ashish Hemrajani, Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Zerodha founder Nikhil Kamath to participate in the buyout of Shunwei’s stake which was a little more than 9%.

Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder and chief executive officer at Koo, said, “As stated earlier, we had been in discussion with Shunwei Capital to enable a smooth exit after it invested in our company 2.5 years ago while we were raising funds for Vokal. It has now fully exited the parent company Bombinate Technologies”.

After being promoted by several ministries of the government, the platform gained unprecedented following which also resulted in massive scrutiny. The app soon fell victim to controversies where Twitteratis discovered Shunwei, a Chinese investors presence in the company. However, the CEO in February clarified that Shuwnei held a single-digit stake and was on its way out.

The company since then has been working on strengthening the platform to position itself as a safe and appealing replacement to Twitter.

Koo, the homegrown Twitter alternative shot to limelight after the Twitter vs Govt of India spat following the Republic Day riots wherein the microblogging giant refused to follow law of the land. After Twitter denied to take action against some accounts associated with press, leaders and journalists, government departments started to move to Koo and urged people to join the platform. The support for the app from government officials resulted in a spike that no one had anticipated.

Zomato Controversy: Beauty Influencer Hitesha Chandranee takes off to Maharashtra after FIR lodged against her

OpIndia Staff
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Zomato Controversy: Beauty Influencer Hitesha Chandranee takes off to Maharashtra after FIR lodged against her

Instagram Beauty Influencer Hitesha Chandranee, who had alleged that a Zomato delivery agent had assaulted her, has now reportedly left Bengaluru after the delivery agent in question lodged a counter-FIR against her. Kamaraj, the Zomato delivery agent, had filed an FIR against Hitesha on Monday, alleging that Hitesha initiated the violence by assaulting him with a slipper. Charges under Section 355 (assault), 504 (insult) & 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code have been lodged against Hitesha.

According to reports, Bengaluru’s Electronic City Police said, “We called Hitesha to appear before the investigating officer for questioning, after Kamaraj filed a case of assault against her. But she said she had left the city and is at her aunt’s house in Maharashtra. We have given her time to make her statement once she returns, and the investigation will continue. If she fails to come before police, we will arrest her.”

It is alleged that on March 9th, Hitesha Chandranee ordered food from Zomato which was expected to be delivered by 4:30 PM. However, when the food wasn’t delivered on time, she got into a spat with the Zomato delivery agent, Kamaraj. Here the stories diverge, with Hitesha alleging Kamaraj assaulted her resulting in bleeding from the nose, whereas Kamaraj alleges that Hitesha initiated the scuffle, throwing slippers at Kamaraj whilst he shielded himself by holding his hand against her. It is through this, Kamaraj alleges, that Hitesha hit herself on the nose, resulting in the bleeding.

In Kamaraj’s own words, “She started hitting me with slippers, and at some point in time while safeguarding myself, my left hand touched her right hand, and the ring which she worn hit her nose, and it started bleeding. I don’t want to make it more complicated, let the truth win. If not, I will fight it legally.”

Initially, public perception was positive towards Hitesha as she posted a video on Instagram relaying her allegations against Kamaraj amassing close to almost 23 million views. With Hitesha’s allegations going viral, Zomato had to step in assuring Hitesha of help in regards to the police investigation and medical bills.

However, as Kamaraj’s side of the story came out, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal took to Twitter in order to highlight the steps Zomato is taking to ensure fairness for both Hitesha and Kamaraj. Mr. Goyal went further in his post, highlighting Kamaraj’s stellar record working for Zomato.

Mamata Banerjee lies about vaccination, invokes ‘dharma’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ at Jhagram rally

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee lies about vaccination, invokes ‘dharma’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ at Jhagram rally

As West Bengal assembly elections are coming closer, allegations and misinformation are making rounds. A similar case came to light during Trinamool Congress’s election rally. West Bengal’s Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress’s chief Mamata Banerjee was addressing a rally in Jhargram where she made a false statement about Bharatiya Janata Party.

BJP did not fulfil free vaccine promise in Bihar, alleged Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee, during the rally, alleged that BJP made a promise before the election in Bihar that they will provide free vaccine in the state for everyone. However, the party did not fulfil its promise. She claimed, “Narendra Modi promised to vaccinate people of Bihar after coming to power, during elections. But did they provide vaccines? No, they did not, they lied.”

However, that is not true. Bihar government is indeed providing free vaccines.

Bihar govt is providing free vaccine

On the contrary, the NDA-led Bihar government has already made the necessary announcements regarding the Covid-19 vaccine in Bihar. On March 1, when phase two of the Covid-19 vaccine started in the country, the Bihar government announced that both shots of Covid-19 vaccine for everyone would be free in the state irrespective of where they get it, that is either in a government hospital or private hospital.

As per government norms, the centre will provide vaccine to states, and the states will further distribute the vaccine to government and private hospitals. The whole vaccine is free in government hospital everywhere; private hospitals can charge up to Rs.250 per shot. Notably, in Bihar, private hospitals will also provide vaccine free, and the state government will bear the vaccine’s cost.

Jai Shree Ram vs Jai Siya Ram

Banerjee made another controversial statement during the same rally. She invoked Dharma against BJP and urged the people of West Bengal not to vote for BJP. She alleged if anyone votes for BJP, they would not be able to follow their Dharma. She claimed, “Don’t vote for BJP; otherwise, you won’t be able to follow your ‘dharma’.”

She further claimed that if BJP comes to power, everyone would have to chant Jai Shri Ram and not Jai Siya Ram. She said Bhagwan Ram used to pray to Maa Durga because she had larger stature than him.

Mamata against Jai Shri Ram

Mamata Banerjee has made her disdain for Jai Shri Ram quite obvious. She has gotten people arrested for chanting Jai Shri Ram and has said that she will continue to oppose ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to ‘save the secular character’ of the country. Within two years, Mamata Banerjee’s reason for opposing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has gone from ‘saving’ India’s secular fabric to pitting Lord Ram against Maa Durga.

Uddhav Thackeray had asked me to reinstate Sachin Vaze when I was the CM of Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis

OpIndia Staff
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Uddhav Thackeray had asked me to reinstate Sachin Vaze when I was the CM of Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday claimed that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had called him in 2018 to seek reinstatement of the then suspended police officer Sachin Waze into the state police force. Fadnavis also held the MVA government responsible for the Antilia bomb scare case that now has the Mumbai Police in its grips.

The former Maharashtra CM said that he was pressurised by Shiv Sena in 2018 to reinstate Sachin Vaze into the Mumbai Police force. However, he had then sought the advice of the Advocate General and decided against reinstating him. Vaze was reinstated by Shiv Sena led government last year, and he has now been suspended again and is currently in NIA’s custody until March 25.

Raising questions over the reappointment of now-suspended Mumbai Police API Sachin Vaze, Fadnavis drew attention towards the tainted past of the police officer and his suspension by the High Court in 2004.

“Question is why API Sachin Waze was reappointed. He was suspended in 2004, took VRS in 2008 and later, his VRS wasn’t accepted due to an inquiry against him. In 2018, there was pressure from Shiv Sena to get him back, but I refused,” Fadnavis said while addressing the media in New Delhi.

Fadnavis also raised question over Sena’s insistence to get Vaze back in the force and pointed out how Vaze had ties with the Shiv Sena. Fadnavis also alleged that Shiv Sena brought Vaze back in 2020 despite being fully aware of the 2017 extortion case against him.

“In 2008, Sachin Waze joined Shiv Sena, was their spokesperson & had business relations with them. Despite knowing about the 2017 extortion case against him, the Shiv Sena-led govt brought him back in 2020, on the pretext of officer shortage due to Covid,” Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis further added, “Crime Intelligence Unit is headed by Police Inspector-level officers but Sachin Waze was made CIU’s head in this case.” It may noted that Sachin Vaze was holding the rank of Assistant Police Inspector (API).

The revelations made by Fadnavis shows that Shiv Sena always wanted to reinstate Sachin Vaze in Mumbai police, and the govt only used the excuse of staff-shortage during Covid-19 pandemic to bring him back.

Fadnavis’ revelations inextricably linked Sachin Vaze with the Antilia bomb scare case

Fadnavis’ stunning revelations in the Antilia bomb scare case kicked up a massive storm, engulfing in its wake police officer Sachin Vaze and now the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. On March 5, made a series of explosive claims related to the Antilia bomb scare while speaking in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha. Speaking in the assembly, Fadnavis alleged that the owner of the Scorpio car, which was used to plant gelatin sticks and a threat letter outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai, was in touch with a mobile phone number that is registered in the name of Mumbai Police officer and ‘encounter specialist’ Sachin Vaze.

Mansukh Hiren was the owner of the Scorpio car. Shockingly, minutes after Fadnavis made sensational revelations in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha assembly, reports of Mansukh Hiren’s death surfaced in the media. It was reported that Mansukh Hiren had allegedly committed suicide by jumping into Kalwa Creek.

Fadnavis had then said that Mansukh Hiren and Sachin Vaze were in contact with each other since June 2020. Furthermore, Fadnavis also claimed that there were not one but two cars—one Scorpio and one Innova and claimed that both cars came from Thane and had followed the same route and reached the location. He said that while the Scorpio with the explosives was parked near the residence of Mukesh Ambani, the Innova had moved away. 

Days later, it came to fore that the two cars outside the Ambani residence were somehow linked with the police. Scorpio was reportedly used by Sachin Vaze and not stolen as initially claimed, a report said, while another report said Innova car was recovered from the Mumbai Police Commissionerate office. It was also revealed that the two drivers of the cars were employed by the police force. It was also reported that Vaze had sought the CCTV footage of his own society, presumably with the purpose of destroying the evidence.

Mumbai Police Commissioner transferred after evidence points towards Sachin Vaze’s alleged involvement in the Antilia bomb scare

In the light of the raging controversy, Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh was transferred and posted as DG Home Guard. Singh was replaced by Hemant Nagarale, who will be the new Commissioner of Police in Mumbai.

The transfer comes in the midst of an ongoing investigation in the Antilia bomb scare in which the role of Mumbai Police Sachin Vaze has come under the scrutiny of investigative agencies. Vaze was recently arrested by the NIA in connection with the Antilia bomb scare case.

Earlier today, an Indian Express report claimed that Sachin Vaze stage-managed the planting of a bomb outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia on instructions of Mumbai Commissioner of Police, Param Bir Singh. It is pertinent to note that it was the Param Bir-headed review committee that reinstated Sachin Vaze after 16 years despite a court order against the controversial cop.

ED attaches properties of three channels involved in TRP manipulation, Republic TV not named in the statement issued by the agency

OpIndia Staff
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ED attaches properties of three channels involved in TRP manipulation, Republic TV not named in the statement issued by the agency

The Enforcement Directorate today attached properties belonging to three television channels in the TRP manipulation case. In a statement issued by the central probe agency, it was informed that immovable and movable properties of Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema and Maha Movie were attached by ED in the case.

The attached properties include land, commercial and residential units in Mumbai, Indore, Delhi and Gurgaon and balances in bank account totaling to Rs. 32 Crore. Investigations have revealed that the Proceeds of Crime for these channels is to the tune of Rs 46 Crore, according to the ED. Importantly, the ED didn’t name Republic TV in its statement, the channel which has been targeted by Mumbai police in the case.

The ED said that during investigation it was found that some employees of Hansa Research had revealed the information about households where BARC Bar-O-Meters are installed, and the channels had tried to use this information for their own benefit. The channels bribed the households to watch their channels, thereby fraudulently increasing their viewership as measured by the BARC.

It may be noted that BARC selects the households where the Bar-O-Meters are to be installed, and the private company Hans Research installs the devices in the selected households. The company also does the servicing of the devices. Thus, Hans employees had access to this confidential information.

ED said that Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema and Maha Movie, had entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat and committed the offence of criminal breach of trust, forgery in order to gain wrongfully by manipulating Television Rating Points (TRPs) of these Television Channels. Thus, by fraudulently enhancing the TRP ratings, these channels have garnered enhanced advertisement revenue, as TRP ratings are used to determine the rate the channels can charge for advertisements.

“In two of these channels; just 5 compromised households were contributing to approximately 25% of the viewership of Mumbai for the relevant period and for the third channel, 5 compromised households were contributing to approximately 12 % of viewership of Mumbai,” the ED statement stated.

Accordingly, the movable and immovable properties of the owners/entities of the channels have been attached to the tune of Rs. 32 Crore against the total Proceeds of Crime to the tune of Rs. 46.77 Crore generated during the manipulation period of TRP of the channels under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Further investigation is in progress.

In another development today in the high profile case, the Bombay High Court slammed the Mumbai police for continuing probe against Republic TV in the case and not finding any against them for months. The court said that the police can’t keep the sword hanging over the channel in the case, as police have not named the channel as an accused, despite filing two charge sheets against it.

ED is also probing India Today TV in the case, as the original complaint filed by Hansa Research against its employee who was selling the confidential data, and the FIR registered in the case, had named India Today, along with the above mentioned channels. Even though Republic TV was not named in the complaint and the FIR, Mumbai Police tried hard to make the channel and its owner-editor Arnab Goswami the main accused in the case.

Hindu man mistaken for Muslim buried in Saudi Arabia, wife approaches Delhi HC seeking repatriation of mortal remains

OpIndia Staff
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Hindu man mistaken for Muslim buried in Saudi Arabia, wife approaches Delhi HC seeking repatriation of mortal remains

A peculiar case has come up in Delhi High Court where a widowed wife has sought the mortal remains of her husband to be shipped to India from Saudi Arabia, where he has buried following his death. According to the woman, her Hindu husband was wrongly buried in Saudi Arabia as per Muslim rites due to an erroneous translation of his religion on the death certificate by the Indian Consulate in Jeddah.

The wife has moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the MEA to take steps to urgently exhume the remains and repatriate them to India in a time-bound manner, so that she and her family can perform the last rites as per Hindu traditions.

A bench of Justice Pratibha M Singh while hearing the petition also instructed the counsel representing the MEA to file a status report with the details of the steps taken towards addressing the wife’s concerns. Justice Singh remarked that the woman has been approaching the authorities since January after her husband’s passing away, and adequate steps should have been taken to address her grievances.

Bench slated the matter for Thursday, March 18 while refusing to give MEA 10 days of time to sort out the matter. It also suggested the MEA to have a senior official attend the proceedings on Thursday.

“Accordingly, the concerned officer from the MEA not below the rank of deputy secretary shall join the proceedings on March 18 to apprise this court about the update on steps taken and status on transportation of mortal remains of the deceased,” the judge said.

Sanjeev Kumar, an Indian citizen, had passed away on January 24 this year at his workplace in Saudi Arabia. He died due to diabetes, hypertension and cardiac arrest and the mortal remains were kept in Beesh General Hospital, Jizan, Saudi Arabia.

In her petition, the woman alleged that on getting the information of her husband’s death, her family members had asked the concerned authorities to repatriate the mortal remains. Later, the woman was asked to execute a Power of Attorney for completing the formalities of repatriation of mortal remains of Sanjeev Kumar and the same was done on January 28, the petition said.

However, on February 18, the wife was informed that the body of her husband has been buried in Saudi Arabia even as she was waiting for his mortal remains in India. The officials in the Indian Consulate explained that it was due to a mistake committed by the official translator of the Indian Consulate, Jeddah, who wrongly mentioned his religion as ‘Muslim’ in the death certificate.

Besides, the Consulate also shared an apology letter by the official translating agency with the petitioner. The petition said neither the woman nor any of the family members gave consent to bury Kumar’s body in Saudi Arabia. Thereafter, the woman requested officials in Jeddah to ask the local authorities there to exhume the mortal remains. 

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