2 cabin crew cremated; pilot, co-pilot's funerals today

Time of India

4 hours ago

Mumbai: Heartbreaking scenes unfolded as the last rites of two Air India crew members who died in the Ahmedabad air crash of June 12 were performed in Mumbai Monday. Distraught families of senior airhostess Shraddha Dhawan of Mulund and flight attendant Saineeta Chakravarti of Juhu Koliwada laid their dear departed to rest.
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The remains of these AI staffers were despatched to Mumbai from Ahmedabad after their families' DNA samples were matched with theirs.
The bodies of the pilot, Capt Sumeet Sabharwal of Powai, and co-pilot or first officer Clive Kunder of Goregaon are expected to be consigned to the elements on Tuesday. Clive was a member of the UBM Christa Kanthi Church in Kurla and the burial is scheduled at Sewri Cemetery. Sabharwal's remains will be flown into Mumbai from Ahmedabad on an early morning flight.
Late Monday night, deceased cabin supervisor Shraddha Dhawan, 44, who lived in Nishad Kalpnagari, Mulund, was laid to rest by her husband Rajesh. Neighbours and relatives gathered to offer condolence.
Rajesh, also an employee of Air India since 2005, is a native of Palakkad, Kerala. The couple got married in 2008 in Palakkad. He is the youngest of three children of K Narayanan, a retired officer of the Indian Air Force.
A day before the crash, Rajesh had gone to Delhi to attend a course organised by Air India. It was during his stay there that he received the news of his wife's death through an official call from the airline. During the incident, their 13-year-old daughter was with her maternal relatives in Mumbai.
Over in Juhu Koliwada, the Chakravarti family bade final farewell to their daughter Saineeta, 35, at the Hindu crematorium in Santacruz West.
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More than 200 mourners, including Air India colleagues, family members and neighbours from her community, gathered as her father Abin performed the last rites.
Saineeta's mother Reema wept uncontrollably while her father and sister quietly struggled to contain their grief. Everyone present mourned the loss of a bright young lady who had the drive to lift her family out of poverty by sheer dint of hard work.
Meanwhile the bodies of British passengers Javed Ali Syed, his wife Mariam and their two little children Zayn, 5, and Amani, 4, have yet to be identified, said Javed's brother Imtiaz.
Imtiaz and his kin from Malad are in Ahmedabad waiting for the DNA results to arrive.
Cabin crew Deepak Pathak of Badlapur too has not been identified yet. Until Monday his DNA samples and those given by his family members were yet to be matched. A relative told TOI, "Deepak's two sisters and brothers-in-law are still in Ahmedabad and their DNA has yet not matched." Similarly, the body of Roshni Songhare, a resident of Dombivli, has also not been identified yet. Her father and brother are in Ahmedabad where they are awaiting the DNA match.
(Inputs by Pradeep Gupta, Manju V and Bella Jaisinghani)