‘Trauma is there in every family of crash victims'

The eyes of Abdul Rahiman, who is working in a shipping company in Dubai, were moist when he started to speak about his son and wife, who lost their lives in the air crash involving Dubai-Mangalore flight on May 22 2010.

Showing pictures of his 10-year-old son Zeeshan Abdul Rahiman on his mobile phone, Rahiman said: “I gave the best to my son. I took him to best of the hotels in Dubai on weekends.” His voice was choked with emotion.

Continuing after a few seconds, he said: “Now I don't go to any party or gathering. All those have completely stopped for me now.”

This is how, he explained, the non-economical issues are affecting the lives of the families of crash victims.

Mahammad Beary, President of Mangalore Air Crash Victims Families Association, said that social issues, along with economic conditions of the victims, should also be looked into while settling the claims for compensation.

In some cases, the old age parents of the air crash victims need medical treatment. Earlier, they were getting money from their children's income. Now that has stopped.

‘All flyers are not rich'

Recounting some other cases, he said some victims had started constructing houses here by borrowing money from the bank. Their family members are finding it difficult to repay the amount, as the source of income is stopped completely now.

And in some cases, there are women for whom marriage has to be arranged. Because of the loss of the earning member that has been stopped.

“Trauma is there in every family of the victims,” he said.

Beary said many people think that those who travel by flight are rich. “Out of 158 victims, nearly 80 per cent are from middle class and lower middle class,” he said.

Abdul Razak, treasurer of the association, said that many families of the victims are not happy with the methods adopted for settling the compensation. Many families are yet to be called for settling the claims.

T. Mohammed, who lost his daughter-in-law and grandson in the accident, wondered if income earned by a person is the criteria for settlement of compensation, then what is the role played by women in the day-to-day life of men in different ways. Women always play a significant role in the growth and development of a person. “Why that is not kept in mind while settling the compensation,” he wondered.

Rahiman said that he is yet to get any call from the legal counsel of Air India for settling the compensation amount.

The issues such as pain and grief of the family members are not taken into consideration while settling claims, Beary said. Unhappy with the current settlement process, around 60 families of the victims have approached a Swedish law firm for settlement of compensation. With this, he said, the compensation settlement process is likely to be completed in three to four months.

Officials of Air India said that compensation has been settled fully in 55 cases and partially in five cases. A total amount of Rs 39.5 crore has been disbursed so far, they said.

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