Digital Last Rites: Daughters Join Funeral On Video Call, Transfer Money! Read Details

Staff at the old age home had alerted the daughters nearly 20 days in advance that their father’s condition was worsening. Despite this, they never came to see him. Their continued absence, even as his health declined, has sparked criticism and raised questions about emotional neglect and familial duty.

Sonipat: In a truly shocking incident, a father passed away in an old age home, but his daughters didn't even show up for his last rites. Instead, they watched the ceremony live on a video call and sent ₹5100 for the expenses. This incident from Sonipat, Haryana, has sparked a major debate about changing family values and the heartbreaking loneliness faced by the elderly. The man, Shivcharan Ram Ratan Gupta, was a textile trader from Mumbai. Shivcharan Ram Ratan Gupta was living at an old age home run by the Samaj Kalyan Shiksha Samiti in Sonipat's West Ram Nagar. He and his wife, Meena, had moved there about a year and a half ago. Meena passed away sometime earlier. 

The couple has three daughters who live in Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. When Shivcharan passed away around 3:30 PM on Tuesday, the home's management immediately contacted all three daughters. However, they all said they couldn't travel to Sonipat. That's when they decided to watch the funeral on a video call. According to the old age home staff, the daughters had stopped calling their father after he fell ill. The staff also revealed that they had informed all three daughters about his critical condition 20 days before his death. The daughter who works as a teacher in Nepal is the one who sent the ₹5100 for the funeral expenses. The home's managers told local media that the daughters also made a strange request: they wanted a video of the entire ceremony to be sent to them afterwards.