The parents of Naveen Gyanagoudar, the Indian student who was killed in Ukraine, said on Saturday that they have decided to donate his body for medical research, The Hindu reported.
The body will be donated to the SS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Karnataka’s Davanagere district.
The statement comes a day after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that Gyanagoudar’s body will arrive at the Bengaluru airport at 3 am on March 20.
Naveen Gyanagoudar’s father, Shekherappa Gyanagoudar, told reporters that the body will reach the family’s village by 9 am. “Then we will perform pooja as per the Veera Shaiva tradition, then we’ll keep [the body] for public view and then we’ll donate the body to SS Hospital, Davanagere for medical studies,” he said, according to ANI.
He said that his son wanted to achieve something in the field of medicine, but that could not happen. “At least his body can be used by other medical students for studies,” he said.
Shekarappa Gyanagoudar said that the family was earlier not sure about whether they would be able to see Naveen Gyanagoudar’s body. “But, thanks to the efforts by the Union and the state governments, we can see him one last time,” he said.
Naveen Gyanagoudar’s remains have been taken from Ukraine to Poland’s capital of Warsaw after the paperwork was completed, Karnataka’s nodal officer for the Ukraine crisis, Manoj Rajan said, according to The Hindu. The official added that a funeral agent appointed by the Ministry of External Affairs has taken possession of his body.
Naveen Gyanagoudar was killed on March 1 after Russian forces attacked Kharkiv city. His body was embalmed and kept in a mortuary in Ukraine.
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