The family of four – a couple and their two adult children – from Gujarat were among the eight people who were killed allegedly while trying to illegally cross into the United States from Canada.
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New Delhi: A family of four – a couple and their two children in their 20s – from Gujarat’s Mehsana district allegedly drowned in the St Lawrence river on the Quebec-New York border. They were among the eight people who were killed allegedly while trying to illegally cross into the United States from Canada.
The four deceased family members had reportedly reached Canada on February 2. “We are yet to ascertain whether they went to Canada for a trip or something else, and how did they end up like that,” Mehsana Superintendent of Police Achal Tyagi said, according to a report by The Indian Express.
Jasubhai Chaudhary, a resident of Manekpur village in Mehsana district’s Vijapur taluka, said his brother, sister-in-law and their two children had left for Canada two months ago on a visitors’ visa. “Two months ago, my brother, his wife and two children went to Canada on a visitors’ visa. Yesterday morning I learnt about the death of members of a family from India in Canada. I tried to contact my brother but was not able to do so. This caused suspicion that they were our family members,” Chaudhary was quoted as saying in a report by news agency PTI.
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A Mehsana district administration official said Malekpura village residents approached the collector with a request to make arrangements for the bodies of the four deceased to be brought back to their native village.
“It is confirmed that four members of a family from Manekpur village in Vijapur taluka of Mehsana went to Canada on a visitor’s visa and tried to cross the river. The villagers approached us seeking help to bring back their bodies, which we have reported to the state government,” the official said.
Chaudhary said the family’s suspicion was confirmed after they found that the names of the victims circulating on Whatsapp groups of his relatives settled in Canada were that of his brother, wife and two children. He identified the four who left for Canada – 50-year-old Praveeni Chaudhary, his 45-year-old wife Diksha, their son 20-year-old son Meet and 24-year-old daughter Vidhi.
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Former state home minister Vipul Chaudhary told reporters the government should make arrangements for the bodies of the victims to be brought back here, and termed it a very sad and shocking incident. If something untoward of this sort happens, then the government must ensure the bodies are brought back, the former minister added.
What Canadian police said
Canadian police said the eight deceased, who were found on the banks of St Lawrence River near Akwesasne, a community which straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York State, are believed to be two families of Indian and Romanian descent and were crossing into USA. Police said they were awaiting the results of post-mortem and toxicology tests to determine the cause of death, news agency The Associated Press reported.
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“A total of eight bodies have now been recovered from the waters. All are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the United States from Canada,” Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude said.
Meanwhile, Mehsana Superintendent of Police Tyagi said Canadian authories were yet to identify the eight deceased. “After the news and photos of family members surfaced on social media, the family of the four victims from Manekpur village of Mehsana district identified them. We talked to the family on Sunday morning. We have not yet got any intimation from the Canadian authorities,” Tyagi said.
On January 19 last year, four members of a family from Dingucha village in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar froze to death while trying to illegally cross into United States from Canada.
