Indian woman stuck for days in the flat where husband died
Saibella Augustine’s husband was killed by a stray bullet on 15 April. She and their daughter had joined him for Easter. This afternoon, her husband’s employer moved them to a guest house. The dead man’s sister, Sister Reyma told AsiaNews that the family is “shattered”.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Saibella Augustine, the widow of Albert Augustine, the Catholic Indian citizen from Kerala killed last week by a stray bullet in the early stages of the ongoing fighting between military groups in Sudan, was moved this afternoon with her daughter to a guest house owned by her husband’s employer, the DAL Group. She had been stuck in the flat where her husband was killed more than a week ago.
In a video message, Saibella made an urgent plea to India’s External Affairs Ministry and the Indian embassy in Sudan to rescue her and her daughter before things got worse.
“We are going through a terrible time. Our food and water stocks have been depleted. We desperately need help,” she said in the video message, adding that “It has been eight days since we have been stranded in our apartment.”
On Saturday, the area where mother and daughter are located was still the scene of intense fighting. “I'm scared when I hear gunshots. We are staying in the basement,” she said.
Saibella and her daughter Marietta arrived in Sudan on 3 April from India to visit her husband for Easter. Albert Augustine was killed on 15 April by a stray bullet while standing near a window in his flat.
His sister, Sister Remya, is a member of the Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy and director of St Joseph's Community College in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
"My parents are shattered. They are elderly and sick. My dad is 75 years old and my mum is 65 and diabetic,” she said peaking to AsiaNews.
“Albert is their only son. My other sister is unmarried, so Albert shouldered responsibilities. My brother has two children; his son is in Canada studying engineering, and his daughter, who is now stuck in Sudan with her mother, is in Grade 9.”
According to official reports, more than 3,000 Indian nationals are stranded in Sudan. At present, the Indian government is relying on France and Saudi Arabia to evacuate its citizens. The Indian military sent own planes and a naval unit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Back in India, the country’s media are full of appeals from Indians held up in Sudan by the fighting.
One story has caught public attention, that of Boby Sebastian, an entrepreneur who also hails from Kerala, who was evacuated in Khartoum but was not able to bring out his pregnant Sudanese wife because she lacked a valid Indian visa or an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card.
Given the situation, Indian authorities promised to arrange an emergency evacuation on a temporary permit.
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