Family of murdered man want body returned to India

The family of a murdered Indian man have said they want his body returned to his home country "as soon as possible".

Vijay Kumar, 30, was found by police officers with serious injuries after being stabbed on Barbourne Road, Worcester, at about 04:15 GMT on 25 November.

He later died in hospital and West Mercia Police has since confirmed five men have been arrested on suspicion of murder and bailed.

One of Mr Kumar's relatives, Jitender Tarar, said the family was "in constant touch" with authorities in an attempt to get the body back to India.

He said: "The family is trying to process it but they will be able to process it when they see Vijay and they can say goodbye to Vijay in front of their own eyes.

"We certainly want [him] back as soon as possible. In our culture, the formal process of mourning starts after cremating the body.

"After cremation, for around 12 days, the family sits together and all of the relatives visit the family to provide comfort, to provide solace but this is [a] very extraordinary situation.

"We know a family member is dead but we don't know when to start the mourning."

Mr Tarar added: "When his mother was told about the death she was literally fainting and she had to be taken to hospital.

"It's been really difficult to process it. Living without him, I would say we wouldn't have imagined it in our worst nightmares.

"Literally, we were so shocked and now we are trying to cope with this harsh reality."

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