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Need 10 days to bring mortal remains, says VK Singh

Family and kin of 38 deceased in shock as news of death comes despite repeated assurance of their well being

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The families of those hoping for the return of their loved ones for the last four years will have a little longer to see the mortal remains of their kin after the government announced that 39 missing Indians are in Iraq are dead.

"It may take up to 10 days to bring back the bodies of all 39 Indians killed in Iraq as there will be legal processes involved," Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said.

Earlier on Tuesday External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed the Parliament that the 39 Indians abducted by Islamic State in Mosul in Iraq were dead and their bodies have been recovered.

"There will be legal processes. We are waiting for information from there (Iraq). It may take 8-10 days (to bring back the bodies)," Singh said outside Parliament.

When asked whether he had felt there was any possibility of the Indians being alive, Singh said 'life is full of hope'. "We knocked every door thinking some of them may have escaped. May be they have gone somewhere. However, considering the war-like situation there, the possibility of their being alive was less," he said.

Singh visited Iraq several times to find out the details of the Indians abducted back in 2014.

"The External Affairs Minister had said that they (the Indians) will not be declared dead without proof and she kept her words. Opposition takes things in a different way. You have seen it in Lok Sabha," he said.

Singh said that the government tried everything possible to verify the details relating to the Indians.

"Sushmaji had made a statement in Parliament that the day the government gets concrete proof of their death or being alive, the Parliament will be informed and she kept her words," the Minister said.

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