‘Unfair to give compensation to my son’s wife’

Ahmedabad: Mohammed Rafik Daud Arab, a resident of Diu, is still in shock over the loss of his son Faizan Rafiq in the AI171 aeroplane crash. While the youth in his early twenties was the cynosure of the family's eyes in the union territory, his death opened a chapter for which the family was not ready.Rafiq told TOI on Saturday that after his son's demise, they got to know that he had a wife. "The marriage was apparently hidden from the family, and after the last rites, the girl claimed to be Faizan's wife. He was a student in the UK and had not mentioned it. The issue cropped up when the amount for compensation was handed over to her instead of our family," he said while speaking on the sidelines of an event in the city where several family members of the aeroplane crash victims had participated to decide the future course of action."It was me who had brought his body from Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad to Diu and had performed the last rites. Even the compensation by the UT was given to us. We have already raised the concern with the airline and Tata Trust, but they have not paid heed to the fact that he was with us for 20 years, and he was with the wife for six months. There was no consultation with us before deciding on the disbursal," said Rafiq.