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Grief shrouds family of woman killed in Israel
32-year-old Soumya was killed in a rocket attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza, according to officials.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the body of Soumya Santosh (32) who was killed in a rocket attack in Israel on Tuesday will be brought to the country soon. He said the state government was in touch with the external affairs ministry and Israeli embassy in Delhi.
32-year-old Soumya was killed in a rocket attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza, according to officials. Soumya, who belonged to Kerala’s Idukki district, worked as a caregiver attending to an old woman at a house in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. Ashkelon, which borders the Gaza Strip, has come under a massive fire from the Palestinian militants.
“We are in touch with the Indian Embassy in Israel to ensure that the mortal remains of Soumya Santhosh who was killed in Israel is brought back to Kerala and handed over to her family as soon as possible. Heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Soumya,” Vijayan tweeted.
Minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan also said her body will be brought to the country at the earliest. “Spoke with the family of Ms Soumya Santhosh to convey my deep condolences at her tragic demise during the rocket attacks from Gaza today. Assured all possible assistance.” “We have condemned these attacks and the violence in Jerusalem, and urged restraint by both sides,” Muraleedharan said in a tweet.
Soumya’s husband K Santosh, a native of Keerithode in Idukki district, said a rocket sent by Hamas fell on the apartment in Ashkelon in Israel as she was making a video call to him. “She was complaining about the worsening situation and I heard a huge explosion and lightning later. When I called her after ten minutes there was no answer,” he explained. He said he immediately alerted some of her friends in Israel who later confirmed her death. The elderly woman for whom she worked also killed in the attack.
Israeli ambassador to India Ron Malka has also called up the family in the morning to convey his government’s condolences. Later he tweeted the photograph of Soumya with her husband and their 9-year-old son.
“My heart goes to her nine-year-old son Adon, who lost his mother at such a young age and will have to grow up without her. The evil attack reminds me of little Moshe who lost his parents during the 2008 Mumbai attacks,” he tweeted. He was referring to the case of Moshe Holtezberg, the two- and-a-half year old boy, whose parents were killed during Mumbai terror attacks. The boy’s caretaker had saved him miraculously and she later migrated to Israel with Moshe.
Soumya’s relatives said she was working in Israel for last seven years as ‘care giver’ and she was planning to return next year. Soumya last visited her native place in 2017.
