Mumbai, Aug 20 (Mid-day) : Devastated by his son Melwin’s sudden suicide in the US, 68-year-old Luis Fernandes didn’t even have enough money to bring his body home, until the son’s friends stepped in and started a crowdfunding campaign on a website, which collected over $30,000 within three days, thanks to over 400 generous donors

The last time 68-year-old Luis Fernandes had laid his eyes on his son was a decade ago, when he went to the airport to see him off to the US. Longing to see him all these years, he received the shock of his life upon hearing of the 37-year-old’s suicide.

Worse still, with no means of livelihood left, the senior citizen despaired of ever being able to gather enough money to bring his only son’s body back to Mumbai. Fortunately, friends and community members stepped up and took it upon themselves to collect the funds.

Funds raised to send Indian's body back from New Zealand

Launching a petition on an online crowdfunding website, they have so far managed to gather $30,036 (nearly Rs 20 lakh) in three days. Thanks to this, Luis a retired driver will not only be able to bring his son home to Worli within 48 hours, but will also have some money left over to support himself for a while.

Mystery donors

While most of the money was sent by family and friends, several strangers opened their hearts and pursestrings to the cause. In fact, the largest contribution, $1,000, was made by an anonymous donor. Melwin’s cousin, Rohan said about 20 per cent of the total money collected had come from absolute strangers all the way in the US, UK, Australia and different parts of Asia.