This Article is From Feb 23, 2012

Fight over last rites of a former Hindu who died as Muslim

Surat: The body of a man, who was born Hindu but converted to Islam a few years ago, remains in a morgue here as his wife and other relatives are squabbling over his last rites.

Siraj Ebrahim Sheikh (49), formerly Bharat Thakkar, died at the Mission Hospital here after he was mowed down by a bus near Vadodara on Tuesday.

While Siraj's present wife, Fatima, wants to bury her husband according to Islamic tradition, his mother, brother and other relatives want to perform last rites as per Hindu customs, leading to a verbal fight between the two families, police said.

As none of the parties was willing to budge, Siraj's body was sent to the morgue.

Siraj had two children from his first marriage who too converted to Islam along with him in 2007 when he married Fatima.

They lived together with Fatima's four children from her first husband who died in a road accident a few years ago.

Police said they were waiting for the two families to reach a compromise.
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