Six months after the death of his wife, an Indian-origin man in Hong Kong is unable to find a final resting place to bury her ashes, a media report said today.
51-year-old Nirmala, wife of Indian-origin man Mariasusai Andrews, died in April this year after suffering from cancer.
After six months, Andrews said her urn of ashes still sits in a funeral home as he is unable to find a resting place, the South China Morning Post reported.
The family has been living in Hong Kong, a part of China, for the last 30 years.
Their ethnicity limits their burial options and as being Christian, they are not allowed to use the Hindu cemetery where many Indians are buried, the report said.
Andrews also approached the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries in Hong Kong, but was turned down.
"[The situation] is making it hard to settle and to move on. It seemed like they were not very earnest. They are not genuine and they are not respecting [us]," he said.
Andrews failed to secure a spot in the lucky draw allocation of government-run cemeteries in June.
Andrews never expected to encounter such discrimination and he said the whole experience had been humiliating.
Bringing the ashes back to India is not an option, considering the family has called Hong Kong home for 30 years, Andrews said .
"Hong Kong is home. I find living in India very difficult [now]. As for the children, it is virtually impossible [for them to settle back there]," he said.
A spokesperson from the management of Chinese Permanent Cemeteries said by law the cemeteries under the organisation only take ethnic Chinese applicants.
