Double whammy for Ludhiana family after son dies by suicide in Canada

Mahesh Sharma

Raikot, June 28

A marginal farmer family of Abbuwal village in Ludhiana district faces double whammy as their only son Charandeep Singh (22), who had gone to Canada in search of greener pastures ten months ago, allegedly committed suicide by jumping in Niagara Falls and the process of bringing body back home seems to be a cumbersome task.

With no blood relatives of the deceased living in Canada’s Brampton, the family will have to send sample of cells of either the parents or sister for identification of the body through DNA testing, which might take a couple of months. As the family is already facing financial constraints due to huge loans taken for sending Charandeep to Canada for studies, arranging money for bringing the body is also a challenge for the aging parents.

Residents led by the former village sarpanch Ravinder Singh Abbuwal have urged the Union Government and the Punjab Government, besides NRI philanthropists to come to the rescue of the family and facilitate transportation of the body.

Septuagenarian Zora Singh and his wife Binder Kaur are cursing the time when they allowed their only son Charandeep to go to Canada by trying luck on study visa about ten months ago.

Though Charandeep had been regularly making phone calls to his parents and sister, he never gave any indication about any stress or tension at his end till his roommate uploaded a cautionary post on social media about his going missing a week ago. According to the deceased’s sister Mandeep Kaur, her brother had told her about his plan to purchase a used car for which he had saved $7,000 already.

Sukhwinder Singh, an NRI settled in Canada and close friend of the family, said he had coordinated with police personnel in Brampton and Niagara Falls area after coming to know of Charandeep’s disappearance and the police officials had confirmed that they had ample proof of his committing suicide.

“When the policeman told me about a video clipping confirming suicide by Charandeep, I requested him to let the family identify their son on the basis of the video. But the cops argued that he could only send the family some grabs of the video after seeking permission from his seniors,” said Sukhwinder Singh.

Now, we will have to send samples of cells of either the parents or sister for DNA testing as asked by the Canadian police,” he added.

The aggrieved family has demanded a probe by senior officials of the Canadian police to rule out any conspiracy behind the demise of their son.

Meanwhile, Fatehgarh Sahib MP Dr Amar Singh claimed to have taken up the issue with the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Union Government Dr S Jaishankar. “Having learnt about the tragedy, I talked to the minister who assured me that he would coordinate with his counterpart in Canada and get the process for identification and transportation of the body expedited,” said Singh.