A 23 year old Indian student from Gujarat, who was missing since last five days has been found dead in th Thames river in London, UK on November 21. He was spotted by the Isle of Dogs in East London, by a passerby. Mitkumar Pravinbhai Patel, a resident of Ranasan village of Chansma taluka of Gujarat had arrived in UK on a student visa barely ten weeks ago on September 19.
The police has denied any foul-play. Mit’s mortal remains are kept at the Poplar Public Mortuary in East London. The relatives and well wishers have started a crowdfunding to bring Mit’s mortal remains back to India as Mit’s family does not have enough financial means. Patan district MP Bharat Singh Dabhi has appealed the Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to help bring Mit’s body back to India.
The deceased student was due to move to Sheffield to start a degree at Sheffield Hallam University. He was staying with a cousin in Plaistow, East London.Mit had remained out of reach for five days from his family in India which made them start frenetic search for him. His firends livinfg in London filed a missing person complaint with the police.
According to one account, Mit had sent several audio messages to his family in Gujarat. It could not be ascertained if Mit Patel was facing financial difficulties. He is said to have expressed his feeling to have been trapped by coming to UK and apologising to his parents in the audio clips.
The craze to study abroad and lure of a better life is reaching unprecendeted heights amoung youths in Gujarat. The Student visa applicants for UK and Canada are on the rise by each pasing day. However, lack of proper planning and unstable financial background coupled with dire unemplyment situation abroad with a profile of an average indian student, send many a student in terrible mental agony, self doubt and guilt.
With the meagre salary barely covering the food and accommodation costs, in a hostile environment, students often feel their dreams crashing. Having spent lakhs of rupees and under sever student loan debt, the students abroad require nerves of steel to survive.
