Neisha's teenage daughter was in a shock when she returned. Her father was not moving. Neisha ran to her husband's room.
She could see something was not right, but she had not enough courage to check herself. So she ran out of the house and called people for help.The following minutes were life-shattering for Neisha and her daughter. Her husband Atul had passed away. The mother-daughter duo had left with nothing. They were in a foreign country with no working rights, no relatives and not enough money.
“Funeral charges were waved off with the help of Indian High Commission. Some colleagues helped us too,” says Neisha who had to live with a friend since she could not afford a home on her own.
about a fundraising campaign started by Ms Bhavna Kaul to help Neisha and her daughter. We got a chance to speak with Neisha who's life is in limbo. The campaign has managed to raise a little over NZD 2000.
Neisha’s husband, 32-year-old Atul Tandon died in his sleep due to cardiac arrest. And the life turned upside down for Neisha and teenage daughter who does not have a visa to stay in New Zealand.
Atul was on a work visa, and Neisha was on the spouse-dependent visa which was due to expire in August 2018.
They had applied for visitor visa after Atul’s death. Now, the life is in a perilous state for the daughter-mum duo as their visa is about to expire.
Neisha’s daughter is studying in year nine.
“I cannot go back to India. I have no family there to support. Essentially, I have nowhere to go,” says Neisha who is running from pillar to post to get a work visa in New Zealand.
Life had not been easy for Neisha. She says, “I married in 2004 into a family who was dowry seekers. My husband and in-laws did not want a girl child, so I walked out with my 6-month-old daughter and decided to bring her up as a single mother.”
Atul and Neisha got married in 2012, and in 2014 they moved to New Zealand in the hope for a better life. Atul’s death crushed that hope.
Now, Neisha cannot work. She has lodged a visa application. She has also approached Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern among other authorities. However, the prospects look bleak at this moment.
What will happen if she does not get a visa?
“I do not know. I will have nowhere to go. My daughter has no life in India. Life will be shattered,” says Neisha who is worried about her daughter’s future.
The community is raising funds to help Neisha and her daughter through a "givealittle" fundraising campaign.
