By The Independent

Inside a modest two-bedroom apartment in India’s Ahmedabad, Ravina Daniyal Christian clutches the edge of her tear-soaked scarf. The home is crowded with relatives but the only voice that carries through the room is hers – spilling with loss.

Just fifteen days ago, she buried her husband. On 12 June, her 30-year-old son Lawrence Daniyal Christian, who had come home from London to perform the last rites of his father, was killed in the catastrophic Air India crash that has claimed at least 270 lives.

“He came only for a few days,” she says. “He was returning on 12 June. Just a short visit – only to honour his father.”

That final act of love has become a mother’s worst nightmare.

“My husband is gone. And now, so is my son,” Ravina says, wailing. “I have no one left to support me.”

Lawrence had been working in London and slowly building a future that included his mother. “He always said, ‘Mummy, once I’ve paid off the loans on our apartment, I’ll bring you to London,’” she says. “That year will never come.”

Her last memory of him is a short video call from his seat on the doomed flight. “He said, ‘I’ll reach London around 10 or 11pm India time. Then I’ll call you. I’m switching off the phone now.’”

Ravina had dropped him at the airport that morning and returned to an empty home. “I didn’t feel like eating. I just had a paratha (fried Indian flatbread).” Then the phone rang. “It was his friend. He told me to check the news – a plane had crashed.”

Panic-stricken, she rushed to Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital, searching every ward until late into the night. “But I couldn’t find him… My daughter gave her blood for the DNA test. But no one has told us anything since.”

Just across town, 66-year-old Sarlaben David Christian is also coming to terms with a double tragedy. Her son Rozar and daughter-in-law Rachnaben – both London residents who had returned to India for medical treatment – were among the passengers killed when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plummeted into a student hostel soon after take-off.

“They had flown in for just a few days,” she says, her voice strained. Her husband had driven them to the airport that morning. After checking in, Rozar called. “‘Everything’s done. You don’t need to wait outside,’ he said. ‘You can go home.’”

The final conversation ended with four words: “I am comfortably seated.” Hours later, the family would learn about the crash that killed all but one of the 242 passengers onboard.

Sarlaben’s nephew William was the first to realise something was wrong. “He saw a news alert, turned to his wife, and asked if Rozar and Rachna had left today. When she confirmed, he called my husband and said, ‘There’s been a crash. It might be their flight.’”

Family members split into two teams – one went to the airport, another to the hospital. “We searched every ward, every stretcher, hoping they were among the injured,” she recalls. “But they weren’t.”

DNA samples were requested later that night.

The bodies of several victims of the plane crash are expected to be released to their families by Sunday evening, following the completion of the DNA sampling process, The Independent has learnt.

According to hospital officials, victims who could not be identified visually had their DNA samples submitted on Thursday.

Their remains are likely to be handed over once the 72-hour verification window concludes. In the meantime, the bodies of victims identified through visible body marks are expected to be released either by Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.

However, not all victims have undergone DNA sampling. For those cases, officials say the identification process may take longer, as DNA analysis typically requires a minimum of 72 hours.

“We found out… no one was alive,” says Sarlaben, hands trembling. “Their bodies were in no condition to be seen. How do I describe the pain of losing a son I raised in my arms?”

Rozar had long planned to settle in the UK. “He wanted to buy a house there and bring us over one day,” she says. “All those dreams have gone with him.”

Among the dead was also an entire family of five – Dr Komi Vyas, her husband Dr Prateek Joshi, and their three young children.

Dr Vyas, a medical professional from Udaipur, had recently resigned from her position at a local hospital to begin a new life in London with her husband, Dr Prateek Joshi.

That fresh start was tragically cut short when the Air India flight they were on crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad.

A selfie taken on board the ill-fated Boeing 787 by Dr Joshi captures what would be their final family moment. In it, he and Dr Vyas are seen smiling in their seats, while their children – five-year-old twin boys, Nakul and Pradyut, and eight-year-old daughter, Miraya – sit across the aisle.

The couple, both doctors, were well known in Udaipur’s medical circles. They previously worked at Pacific Hospital before Dr Joshi moved to the UK several years ago.

He had returned to their hometown of Banswara in Rajasthan earlier this week to accompany his wife and children back to London, where the family was planning to settle permanently.

A close friend and college friend of Dr Vyas, who requests anonymity, shares the devastating news with The Independent. “Komi was part of our 2004 MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) batch – always smiling, full of charm. Even after college, we stayed in touch. She used to visit my clinic in Ahmedabad when she worked as an assistant professor in Rajasthan. The last time I spoke to her was in December – she had reached out about a consultation for her sister.”

He recalls how he found out about the tragedy. “I was in the operation theatre when the crash happened. Around 2pm, I got a call from my wife, who was also Komi’s classmate. She heard from a contact at Civil Hospital that Komi might have been on board the crashed flight. I rushed out of the OT and tried calling Komi, but there was no answer. Soon after, someone on our college WhatsApp group confirmed the devastating news – it was her, her three children, and her husband.”

The family had travelled to India for a vacation and were returning to London to begin a new chapter.

“Komi and Prateek had planned to finally settle there now that their twins were turning five in August and their daughter was already of school-going age,” the friend explained. “With the children a bit older, it would’ve been easier for Komi to manage in a new country. This was supposed to be their big move.”

He also confirms that Dr Vyas’s father had arrived in Ahmedabad and had submitted DNA samples for identification on Thursday.

“He’s been at Civil Hospital since the day before yesterday, trying to complete the formalities. We’ve been told the children’s bodies were found early this morning, and the process is underway.”

As of Saturday evening, the remains of Dr Vyas and her family had not yet been released, pending DNA verification and identification. Some victims’ bodies are expected to be released as DNA identification process nears completion.

Suresh Patni, 47, stands alone outside the hospital mortuary, waiting for the handover of his 12-year-old son’s remains. Akash Patni was charred beyond recognition when a passenger aircraft crashed into the college campus where his family ran a small tea stall.

The boy had accompanied his mother, Sitabehen Patni, to their stall as he often did. Tired, he lay down to rest beneath a tree nearby. Moments later, the plane came crashing down, engulfing the area in flames. Akash, fast asleep, had no chance to escape.

“He was burnt alive while sleeping,” Patni says. “I have not even seen his body yet. It is not in a condition to be seen. It is so burnt that it cannot be identified.”

Patni says he has submitted identification documents to the hospital, including a PAN card in lieu of Aadhaar, to claim his son’s body. “The officials have told me they will hand it over by tonight or tomorrow morning.”

His wife, Sitabehen, remains in the intensive care unit with serious burn injuries. “She doesn’t know he’s gone,” he says. “She’s had more than 40 stitches to her face. The bleeding had to be stopped. I can’t even begin to tell her what’s happened.”

Hospital authorities tells The Independent that most of the bodies recovered from the crash site have been shifted from the post-mortem room to cold storage, awaiting DNA confirmation and family handover.

“I am all by myself here. I don’t know how I can bear to see him like that. How do I ask them to show me my son’s body?” Patni says

A woman, identified as Madam Cynthia, has confessed to sleeping with her daughter’s 46-year-old husband, Joseph, in Nasarawa State.

The secret romantic affair between Cynthia and her son-in-law was blown open after her six-year-old grandson reported their escapade to his mother, Doris.

According to The Nation, Cynthia and Joseph were involved in a romantic relationship before his marriage to her daughter.

28-year-old Doris married Joseph, a sales manager with a private company, and was oblivious that he and her mother were dating.

On January 18, when Madam Cynthia visited her daughter’s matrimonial home in New Nyanyan, Karu Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, she and her son-in-law decided to engage in fresh romance sessions during the visit. Unfortunately, their six-year-old son ran into them in one of the sessions and later let the cat out of the bag.

Madam Cynthia admitted to the romantic affair and pleaded with her daughter for forgiveness.

She said, “My husband died about 20 years ago, and I never found another man of my dreams until I met Joseph. He is a kind and generous gentleman. He is also very strong and very good in bed.

“He gave me the most satisfaction I ever had with a man in bed. Because of that, I did not want to lose his company, so I recommended him to you (Doris). I insisted that he must get married to you so you could have a taste of what he is made of.”

Narrating the incident, Doris said, “I met my husband through my mother in Lafia in 2018. I had just completed NYSC and she introduced him to me as someone who was very good and generous and would never maltreat me.

“Looking at Joseph, although he was not too young, he actually appeared gentle and promising. He would come to my mother’s restaurant every evening after the close of work, but I never suspected that he was also going out with my mother.

“She actually hid her main reason for linking the two of us together. My mother did not want my husband to get married to another woman basically because of his sexual prowess and kindness.

“To my admiration, Joseph actually showed commitment, making sure that all my needs were met even without me asking.

“Within a short time, he proved to me that he was actually a good man in addition to what my mother told me.

“We eventually got married in 2018, and two years later, we relocated to New Nyanyan because he had secured a civil service job for me in Abuja and also opened a salon for me.

“Before I could say anything, she knelt down and said she was sorry I found out about their relationship the way I did, but she was not sorry she got both of us together.

“I have three kids and I am presently four months pregnant. My mother, a very careful woman, had told me after my marriage that she felt fulfilled that I got married to Joseph.

“She was always coming on visits, and would always ask whether I was enjoying my marriage. And I truly was enjoying it, because my husband did make life easy for me and my kids.

“She was always calling or visiting, and I thought it was because I am her only child. When I gave birth to my first son, she was very excited and often came to help out with house chores.

“She was always taking care of my kids who she loves so much. It was as if she was living together with us. We live in a three-bedroom apartment, so there was enough space for her to stay for as long as she wanted.

“On January 13, my mother came around and it coincided with the time my husband took a week off to rest at home. It never occurred to me that my husband’s one-week rest was tactically planned to coincide with my mother’s coming.

“The setting in my matrimonial home was the best for them because of the kids. They took care of the kids while I went to work, but I did not know that they were also taking care of themselves.

“My mum loves a particular brand of alcohol while my husband also likes a brand of wine, which he always ensured was in the refrigerator.

“So while I was away to work and the kids had gone to school, they kept each other company with their drinks. It never occurred to me that their relationship was beyond mother-in-law and son-in-law.

“On Thursday, January 18, I returned from work and my eldest son came into my room as I was pulling off my dress. He looked worried and confused, so I asked whether his aunty beat him in school or he was not given food, but he said nothing.

“When I prodded him further, he told me that he saw his father and grandmother fighting naked in the visitor’s room and grandma was crying while daddy was on top of her.

“I asked how he got to know, and he said that when he returned from school, grandma bathed him and he slept off after eating because he was tired.

“He said that when he woke up, he went to check on Grandma (Madam Cynthia) in her room and found that she and her father were fighting naked and Grandma was crying under him.

“Obviously, they did not lock the door. He said his father ordered him to go out immediately. Although I was shocked at the revelation, I managed to control my anger and inquire to know more of what went wrong in my absence.

“My son’s claims were actually not unexpected because of my mother’s constant visit to us and her unusual closeness to my husband.

“They were so close and were always in the sitting room together. But another thought came into my mind: the two of them had known each other before I came in, and I actually met my husband through my mother.

“I walked swiftly across the house and into my mother’s room and asked if there was something going on between her and my husband.

“She could not deny the allegation and that caused me to start shedding tears. I just did not know where the tears were coming from.

“My mother calmed me down and narrated the story of her relationship with Joseph and why she insisted that I should marry him.

“She said she got hooked on my husband because he was very good in bed in addition to his good nature. In fact, she described my husband as a Maradona in bed.

“She said that every woman would like such a man and she did not want me to miss out on him because those are the traits that sustain marriages.

“She said she would have felt cheated if Danjuma had married another woman, and that was why she persuaded me to marry him.

“She actually believed she was doing the best for me.”