Man Declared ‘Foreigner’ Dies in Assam, Family Doesn’t Accept Body

The family refused to accept the body of Dulal Chandra Paul till the administration declares him a Indian citizen.

The family refused to accept the body of Dulal Chandra Paul till the administration declares him an Indian citizen.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

The family of a man who was declared a ‘foreigner’ refused to accept his body on Monday, 14 October, as a sign of protest as he lost his life after two years in a detention centre due to illness, in Assam.

Dulal Chandra Paul from Alisinga village of Assam's Sonitpur district lost his life at Guwahati Medical College on Sunday after suffering an illness. The family of the 65-year-old 'mentally unstable' man refused to accept his body till the administration declared him an Indian citizen, NDTV reported.

One of his sons told The Hindu that if his father was a Bangladeshi, they should have sent the body to Bangladesh.

According to the family, he was declared a ‘foreigner’ in 2017 despite being ‘mentally unstable’. Paul, who was also suffering from diabetes and renal complications, was lodged at the detention centre in October 2017. He was admitted to hospital on 28 September this year.

“We have land documents dating back to 1960. But they still took our father and spared no thought to his mental condition. Since the government declared him a Bangladeshi, it should have sent his body to Bangladesh.”

Ashish Paul told The Hindu

A delegation has been sent to his village by the state government to convince his family members to accept the body, NDTV's report said.

The state government, earlier this year, stated that 25 people died in detention centres since 1985, out of which one was 45-day-old child.

(With inputs from NDTV and The Hindu)