Staff and volunteers at an old age home in Haryana's Sonipat cremated 72-year-old Shiv Charan Gupta on August 3, after his three daughters said they could not travel for the funeral. The daughters watched their father's last rites through a video call instead, according to the management of Samaj Kalyan Shiksha Samiti Old Age Home, which shared the details with ANI.
The story has put a spotlight on a quiet but growing reality in Indian cities: elderly parents living out their final years away from their children.
A Cloth Merchant's Journey to Haryana
Gupta once ran a cloth business in Mumbai. Anand Kumar, manager of the old age home, told ANI that business losses pushed Gupta to leave the city. He moved to Haryana with his wife and, over time, settled into life away from his three married daughters, who live in Mumbai, Nepal and Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh.
