Kasula Suryanarayan, the Indian telecom engineer who was abducted and killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, was given a tearful farewell in Hyderabad on Tuesday morning.
There was tension at the cremation ground as his family members did not allow the woman who claims to be his second wife, Swapna, to be present along with her one-year-old daughter.
First wife Manjula was also not present as she is in a state of shock and undergoing treatment after she attempted suicide on Monday night by consuming phenyl.
Suryanarayan's parents and three children and dozens of other relatives, friends, neighbours, state officials as well as representatives of Bahraini company Al-Moayed, for which the engineer was working in Afghanistan, were present.
Those who attended the funeral were seen shouting slogans of "Taliban down down" to vent their ire against the killing.
Satyateja, the five-year-old son of the engineer, lit the funeral pyre in the presence of his elder sisters Anisha and Manisha.
Emotional scenes were witnessed as the children insisted on seeing the body kept in a wooden casket and wrapped in the national flag. The casket was opened to show them the legs of their father.
The headless body of Suryanarayana was found in Afghanistan's southern province of Zabul on Sunday, two days after he was abducted by the Taliban in the same area.
{{/usCountry}}The headless body of Suryanarayana was found in Afghanistan's southern province of Zabul on Sunday, two days after he was abducted by the Taliban in the same area.
{{/usCountry}}His body was flown in from Kabul to the national capital Monday and brought here from New Delhi at night.
Meanwhile, Swapna, the second wife, spent the night outside the house of Suryanarayan in Malkajgiri as the relatives of first wife refused to allow her in.
Swapna, who claimed that the engineer had married her five years ago, is demanding justice and wants a secure future for her child.
The state government has announced Rs.500,000 and a job to a member of the family while Al-Moayed has announced a financial assistance of Rs.2 million and also promised to take care of the education of the children.
The CEO of Al-Moayed, Pankaj Sehgal, and a few other officials of the company attended the funeral.