Arab News
Dammam, Jun 16: The Indian kindergartner who died on Sunday after being left locked in a private van for five hours under the blazing sun, was buried on Tuesday afternoon at the Faisaliya Cemetery in Dammam’s District 91.
The funeral prayers for Fida Haris were held at Al-Rayyan Mosque after Asr. Dozens of Saudis and hundreds of expats, who attended the funeral prayers, embraced and consoled Muhammad Haris, the father of Fida, and Muhammad Moosa, the girl’s maternal grandfather.
Principal E.K. Mohammed Shaffe, Anwar Batcha and a large group of teachers from the International Indian School in Dammam (IISD) were present during the funeral prayers. Among the mourners who witnessed Fida’s final journey were non-Muslim men and women teachers as well, who came to pay their respects to the little girl whose tragic death has resulted in an outpouring of grief from the entire community.
Standing in the corner at the cemetery was Satish Chandran, the senior school driver who carried Fida from the baking Nissan van on Sunday. “Those were the most difficult moments of my life. There she was, lifeless, no pulse, nothing. It was so hot inside. I can’t describe it,” said Chandran with his eyes moist and red with grief.
Razia Muhammad, who gave Fida the final bath, said she looked like an angel. “I can’t believe what happened,” she said. “Tragedies happen all the time but this particular one is unspeakable, unimaginable.”
For Indian expat Yunus Raheem, who was among the mourners on Tuesday, coming to terms with the tragedy is well nigh impossible. “Wherever you go and whoever you talk to, at home, at work, people are only talking about Fida. They keep asking the same questions again and again, ‘What must it have been like for her inside that locked-up and glass-tinted van? How did she try to get out of the furnace? What pain she must have endured in those five hellish hours?’”
“Our Pakistani neighbor and his family turned up at our house last night. They came in to console us. We are not even related to Fida but because we are tied with this bond of humanity, we all feel each other’s pain,” said Ashraf Akhtar, an Indian business executive from Alkhobar. “Fida’s death has shaken us to the bone. This scar will take a long, long time to heal. It was the second day today that I have not sent my children to school. I can’t let go of them.”
Among those who met Fida’s father was longtime Eastern Province resident Parvez Askari. “Yes, I met Muhammad Haris. He was really depressed and speechless. And so was I. May God give the parents the patience to bear this immense tragedy,” he said. “We all are with them in these moments of great sorrow.”
As Fida’s body was being lowered into the grave, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Bakr held her father tightly and said: “Don’t you grieve. She is a martyr.”
Fida’s crestfallen father bowed his head and said not a word.