The mortal remains of a medical student from Karnataka, who was killed in Russian shelling in war-torn Ukraine, arrived today in India.
The mortal remains of Naveen reached Bengaluru at 3 am Monday and were later taken to his hometown in Haveri in an ambulance. The remains reached Haveri at 9 am. The final rites of Naveen are being conducted as per Hindu Veerashaiva Lingayat tradition by his parents and thereafter it will be taken out for a procession in the village.
The Chief Minister paid his respects and laid a wreath on the body when it arrived at Bengaluru airport earlier today.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is also expected to Naveen's village to pay his tribute.
The family has decided to handover the body to SS Medical College in Davanagere. Shekharappa Gyangoudar, father of Naveen Shekharappa, who died in a shelling attack in Ukraine on March 1, said on Monday that the remains of his son would be donated to a hospital for medical research.
"Since childhood, he wanted to become a doctor and serve society. However, he did not get a seat in a government medical college in India, so he went to Ukraine to pursue his medical education. His dream of becoming a doctor did not come true, so we decided to donate his body so that the future generation could do their research and be beneficial for them," Shekharappa Gyangoudar told news agency ANI.
Naveen of Karnataka's Haveri district had lost his life on March 1 in Kharkiv and his family have been "beseeching" the authorities to retrieve his body. However, heavy fighting in the area has prevented the retrieval till recently.
(With inputs from Agencies)
