Mortal remains of Nithin Chandran reach Kochi

Dubai: The mortal remains of Nithin Chandran, an Indian expat in the UAE who died of possible cardiac arrest here on Monday, were flown back to Kochi late on Tuesday night.

The 28-year-old Chandran was under treatment for high blood pressure and a heart condition and is suspected to have succumbed to a heart attack while asleep, Gulf News reported.

Chandran's remains were repatriated from Sharjah International Airport at 11.30 p.m. on a chartered Air Arabia flight on Tuesday, which landed in Kochi at 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday. The body was later moved to his hometown in Kozhikode for the final rites, said Advocate Hashik, senior legal consultant who is handling Nithin's case.

Chandran and his wife Athira Geetha Sreedharan, who is also a Keralite, were in the news after a pregnant Sreedharan filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India in April seeking help to return home for her delivery due in the first week of July, amidst the international travel lockdown imposed by India following the coronavirus pandemic.

Chandran had stayed back in Dubai after sending his wife home on the first day of repatriation from Dubai on May 7 under the Vande Bharat Mission.

Sreedharan delivered the couple's first child, a daughter, on Tuesday, a day after her husband's untimely death.

"After landing in Kochi, Nithin's remains were taken to MIMS Hospital in Kozhikode so Sreedharan and the baby could see him one last time. She was not told about his passing until after her baby's birth as the family was worried it could cause mother and child some harm," said Hashik.

He added, "I have helped several families repatriate their loved ones to India in the many years of my service here. Nothing has broken my heart more than this case."