The Indian High Commission in Wellington will be bearing all costs of repatriation of the deceased Kiwi Indian migrant Chamkaur Singh Batth, who died last week.
Chamkaur Singh Batth, 27 - a native of Samrala village in Ludhiana district of Punjab - suffered a breathlessness on Tuesday, December 1 at his residence in South Auckland and could not be saved despite some frantic efforts of friends and the first responders.
He was attended by his flatmate and emergency services when collapsed who failed to revive him even after multiple resuscitation attempts.
Chamkaur was the only son of a farmer family, who are understandably tremendously grieve stricken and distraught to come to terms of their son's unfortunate death.
The Indian High Commission has stepped up on the occasion to bear the cost and arrange for the body repatriation of the deceased back home.
The Indian High Commission has sanctioned $11,500, the full cost of sending the mortal remains of the young migrant back home to his family in Punjab, India.
Speaking to the Indian Weekender, High Commissioner of India Muktesh Pardeshi said, "It is very unfortunate that a young man, son of a farmer from Punjab in the late 20s has died in New Zealand without any family support.
In such cases, the High Commission comes forward as a guardian. We have decided to take care of the entire costs of the repatriation of mortal remains to Punjab. We offer our sympathies and support to the distraught family."
Coroner’s report into the incident revealed that Chamkaur’s death was caused by Pulmonary Embolism, a medical term for the blockage of a pulmonary artery of the lungs.
Chamkaur came to New Zealand in 2015 as an international student and studied IT and Business from an institution in Auckland and had worked in dairy farms in Christchurch before moving to Auckland earlier this year.
Chamkaur was living with two of his friends in a South Auckland property and was due to start his new job last week. Chamkaur was on open job search visa in the country.
Chamkaur’s flatmate Amritpal Singh had earlier told the Indian Weekender that he was a decent, hardworking and humorous person and his passing away came as a big shock to everyone in the close friend-circle.
Amritpal was the last person Chamkaur spoke to before suffering the sudden medical incident on Tuesday night.
After Chamkaur was declared dead, Amritpal contacted Supreme Sikh Society of New Zealand who informed the High Commission of India in Wellington.
Chamkaur was the only child of a farmer family from Punjab, and his sudden death has come as a big blow to his family and friends back in India.
The repatriation is scheduled on Sunday, December 13.