It was only today that the family of the deceased received a call from the ministry of external affairs informing them about this detail.
The last three days have been an unabated nightmare for Nitisha Negi’s family who lost her life in Australia’s Adelaide Glenelg Beach on Sunday evening. The teenager had been part of the Under-19 Indian women’s football team that had gone to Australia to participate in the School Pacific Games.
It was only today that the family of the deceased received a call from the ministry of external affairs informing them that Nitisha’s body will be flown to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, on December 16 at 2.45 pm via Dubai. Earlier in the day, when family members had visited the office of the minister for external affairs, they were informed that the final date will be decided on December 14 only.
“We had approached a BJP MP and sought his intervention in allowing us to directly meet with Sushma Swaraj. Though we could not meet her personally her secretary, Satish Chandra Gupta assured us that she is looking into the matter herself and shall take a decision about flowing the body after December 14,” Balbeer Negi, Nitisha’s uncle said.
When asked if the family had received any call from the Delhi Government in connection to the provision of an ambulance to transport the body from the IGI Airport to the girl’s home Negi replied, “No, we haven’t got any call apprising us about this arrangement. Nobody from the Delhi Government has visited us until now. We had gone to Manish Sisodia’s office in Patparganj. However, he too was not available. We shall visit Sushma Swaraj’s office tomorrow to understand this arrangement.”
Anisha Dogra, one of the girls who returned from Australia on tuesday morning had gone to Sisodia’s office and narrated the entire incident. She had been accompanied by her father, another fellow player’s father and her sports teacher from Ahlcon Public School, Mayur Vihar Extension.
City Spidey was informed that on Sunday (December 10) Sushil Kumar, Indian wrestler who is also the president of School Games Federation of India (SGFI) along with other members had visited Nitisha’s house. Nitisha’s father, Puran Singh Negi said, “At 5.30 pm, the father of another girl who had also gone to Australia informed us about the incident. He said that his daughter had rung him and told him about the incident. He only reiterated that Nitisha was missing and the search operation was on. At 7.30 I received a call from someone in Australia who also told me that my daughter was still missing. By 9 pm, Sushil Kumar and his team visited my house and they too had the same account. We did not receive any call or message thereafter from SGFI.”
A document accessed by City Spidey reveals that, SGFI had sent the children to Australia (from different schools in Delhi) with the prior approval of the Delhi Government.
