CHENNAI: They hoped against hope until the last moment. Despite the DNA test results and confirmations from two governments, only on Tuesday when the flight carrying the mortal remains of the Raghavendran Ganeshan landed in the Chennai airport at 1.50 pm and one of his cousins opened the coffin, they finally believed that tragedy that has struck them is true.
“We hoped that the DNA test might had gone wrong... But only when we saw his face, we believed that he is indeed no more with us,” said Sridhar, one of the relatives of Raghavendran.
Even as the body was mutilated in the blast, the relatives said more of the face was intact.
Raghvendran, a native of Tamil Nadu, was working for an IT company in Brussels, and was believed to be have been travelling on the metro rail to work when one of the three bombings that ripped through the European city, took place at the Maalbeek metro railway station.
His parents - Annapoorni and Ganesh C -, who had travelled to Brussels and returned on Tuesday night, were inconsolable in the airport and struggled hard to contain the tears.
They waited as the customs clearing took nearly 45 minutes and they were finally allowed to take the body to home for the final rites.
Having waited for nearly a week to know the status of their son, the 45 minutes seemed not a big deal for the elderly couple.