Ashraf Thamarassery, who helped send back actor's mortal remains from Dubai, has been the 'From' address for over 4,700 people repatriated to 39 countries, including Farooque Shaikh
At the embalming centre
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He is the "messiah" for bereaved families awaiting mortal remains of their loved ones from UAE. All coffins getting airlifted from UAE and taken across the world are sent "from" him. He is Ashraf Thamarassery, 43, a Kozhikode native who works at the embalming centre in Dubai.
The Ajman resident, in the last 18 years, has got connected to approximately 4,700 families world over, having assisted in the repatriation of their loved ones' bodies.
Ashraf knows every death that gets reported in any part of six of UAE's emirates — Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaiman, Fujairah, Umm al-Quwain and Ajman.
Assisting the Kapoors
On Wednesday, as Bollywood superstar Sridevi was laid to rest at Vile Parle, Ashraf was busy completing formalities to repatriate two cases that had come to him for embalming — C Haridasan, 41, of Kochi, who worked with a construction company in Ajman and had died of a heart attack, and Vijay Reddy, 36, from Ahmedabad, an accidental death.
Ashraf Thamarassery
Speaking to mid-day over the phone, Ashraf said, "I was at the embalming centre when I learnt about Sridevi's death through my network in the hospital, where she was brought and declared dead. But I have no role to play unless the police or prosecution clear the body after post-mortem for embalming. Usually, it takes anywhere between a day and four for them to decide on the reason and circumstances surrounding the death. Only after that the body is sent for embalming, and then repatriation. Unlike earlier, when it would take nearly a week for repatriation, as most of the work was done manually at different offices, technology has changed things today."
When asked if Boney Kapoor came to the embalming centre to claim the body, Ashraf replied in the negative and said, "The distance between the mortuary and embalming centre is around 15 km; the body was accompanied by the Bur Dubai police and a person representing them. He (Boney) was not around even after the body was kept in the ambulance post embalming."
Refuting social media rumours about the late actor having sustained injuries, he added, "She (Sridevi) had no injuries, and her body wasn't bloated either, as stated in some reports. Her photograph was shown for completing formalities, and she looked like she did in the picture."
Interestingly, Ashraf has not seen a single movie of Sridevi. "I am at the embalming centre from morning till late night, assisting the police and next of kin in completing formalities and obtaining necessary permissions from various offices. I seldom take leave; I don't watch television even when I go to Kerala for a visit."
Not his first celebrity
This is not the first time Ashraf has assisted the family of a celebrity in repatriation. On December 28, 2013, actor Farooque Shaikh, 65, died of a heart attack while on a holiday in Dubai.
Ashraf recalled, "Farooque's body could be handed over within a day, as the police and prosecution were satisfied with heart attack being the cause of death, and papers were cleared faster. I had assisted in the paperwork and in getting the body repatriated faster. A huge crowd had turned up at the embalming centre then, his fans and admirers."
Boney Kapoor (top centre of frame) and daughters Khushi (right) and Jhanvi (partly seen behind Boney Kapoor) bid adieu to Sridevi on Wednesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Another case he remembers is that of Nandana, the eight-year-old daughter of renowned playback singer Chitra, who had drowned in a hotel pool in April 2011.
"In the last 18 years, I have handed over bodies right from a two-year-old to an 80-year-old. I have dealt with all sorts of deaths — natural and unnatural, including accidents — and have repatriated coffins to 39 locations across the world. I believe that when in distress, especially in case of death in a foreign land, we must come forward and do everything possible to help faster repatriation," he said.
Putting connections to use
According to Ashraf, the cost of repatriating a body from UAE to the destination is between 5,000 and 6,000 UAE dirham, including the local ambulance and embalming costs and cargo airfare.
Ashraf's elder brother Mohammed Bashir, 55, speaking to mid-day from Kozhikode, said, "At times, when claimants do not have sufficient money or the air cargo does not have room to accommodate the coffin (usually, airlines allow only two coffins per aircraft), Ashraf uses his network with influential people in the UAE and provides every assistance he can to them."
Also view: Sridevi's Last Rites: SRK, Anil Ambani, Fardeen Khan And Other Celebs Bid Farewell
Ashraf has a suggestion for the Indian government: request UAE to fix an amount for airlifting coffins, currently decided on the weight of the coffin and body. "These are human remains, which can't be weighed like vegetables or meat. We must do away with this system of weighing a dead body and then paying a few thousand dirhams; it's a hurtful practice."
Modest beginnings
When asked how he came into this field, Ashraf, who has studied only till Std X, said, "I came to Ajman as a water tanker driver and did all sorts of odd jobs to make ends meet. During that time, an Indian friend, who was settled here with his family, passed away in a hospital after falling sick.
"I went to the hospital and saw his wife and children helpless, as they had to take the body back to India. I then decided to take up the cause and help every single Indian pravasi to get decent last rites at his/her homeland."
Ashraf stays with his wife Fatima Suhra, 36, and two children in Ajman; his elder son is pursuing his engineering in Kerala and joins them during vacations. Ashraf has become a single point of contact not only for Indians based in UAE, but also for government officials and the UAE police.
He has won many awards, including the Bharatiya Pravasi Sanman in 2015 at Ahmedabad, a function in which PM Narendra Modi and other senior leaders were present. Four novels have been written on him, with the recent one just a few months ago.
A proud village
Ashraf hails from Chungam in Thamarassery, Kozhikode, and is one of Fatima's, 75, nine children. He is a known face in the UAE and in Kozhikode, having won awards for his work. He is financially supported by his brothers and sister based in the Gulf. He owns land and a villa close to their ancestral house in Kerala.
Bashir said, "I am joining him next month; I have assisted him in nearly 300 cases of repatriation. It gives us immense satisfaction as we feel that the bereaved family needs to get their loved ones' remains at the earliest."
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