Punjab student dies after stroke in Ukraine, family seeks help

Family based in Barnala and Punjab government seek Centre’s help to bring back the student’s stranded father along with his mortal remains from Ukraine

A 22-year-old student from Barnala in Punjab, who was hospitalised after suffering a stroke in Ukraine last month, died on Wednesday. The family has sought the Centre’s help to bring back his mortal remains from the war-torn country.

Chandan Jindal from Punjab was a fourth-year medical student in Ukraine.

Chandan Jindal, 22, was a fourth-year student at National Pirogov Memorial Medical University in Vinnytsya town. According to his mother Kiran Jindal, Chandan was admitted to a local hospital after suffering an ischemic stroke due to a blood clot a month ago. He breathed his last earlier in the day. His father, Shishan Kumar, who had gone to Ukraine on February 7 to attend to his ailing son, is also stranded there.

Kiran, in a letter to minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, stated that her husband is trying to reach the Romanian border with their son’s mortal remains. “He requires help to bring back the body, as he doesn’t understand the local language,” wrote Kiran, while seeking assistance from the Government of India.

The Punjab chief secretary has also taken up the matter with the ministry to make arrangements to bring back the body as well as the father, who is a retired government employee.