Family's agony Tragedy of couple killed after surprise visit home
The Guardian Weekly
|June 20, 2025
In the cramped lanes of Ambika Nagar, everyone spoke of Pooja and Harshit Patel with pride.
-
The couple had done what none of their relatives or neighbours had managed: they had moved abroad, settling among the thriving Gujarati diaspora community in the city of Leicester.
Their lives in England, where the couple had relocated so Pooja, 28, could complete her business master's degree - later getting a job at Amazon alongside Harshit, 33 - seemed unimaginably glamorous to their relatives and close-knit community back in India. Pooja would call her mother, Chandra Mate, 58, at least three times a day with tales of British life.
Mate, who had never left India and had spent most of her life in this small house in Ahmedabad, lived for these calls. Collectively Pooja and Harshit's families had spent every penny, sold every piece of ancestral land and jewellery, and pooled every resource to get their children to the UK and to pay for Pooja's degree. When the couple arrived in India, surprising their families with their first visit in two years, they were greeted like celebrities.
Dit verhaal komt uit de June 20, 2025-editie van The Guardian Weekly.
Abonneer u op Magzter GOLD voor toegang tot duizenden zorgvuldig samengestelde premiumverhalen en meer dan 9000 tijdschriften en kranten.
Bent u al abonnee? Aanmelden
MEER VERHALEN VAN The Guardian Weekly
The Guardian Weekly
The Guardian Weekly team's small-screen picks of the year, from nature's wonder to a trip to 1970s Belfast
The final season of Jack Rooke's coming out dramedy Big Boys (Channel 4/Netflix/Apple) was as funny and filthy as its two predecessors.
4 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
THE YEAR THAT WAS
How closely were you paying attention to the news in 2025? The answers to these questions all appeared in the Guardian Weekly - see how many you can recall
2 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
COUNTRY DIARY
It has become an annual ritual, the cutting of branches from this shapely holly for a winter wreath.
1 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
PAINT IT ORANGE HOW A CHARITY TURNED ANGER INTO COMMUNITY PRIDE
Dashing through the snow with Father Chris... It does not get any more seasonal, even if it feels like there might be a final syllable missing.
2 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
EVERDAY HEROES
From a woman speaking out against state violence to a journalist killed in Gaza, here are some of the brave people who made a real difference in 2025
10 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
A Trumpian Kennedy Center is warning to all cultural institutions
Into the pale stone wall of the Kennedy Center, above its elegant terrace on the edge of the Potomac River, are carved bold and idealistic sentiments.
3 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
THE INTERREGNUM
Confronted with the 'mobster diplomacy' of Donald Trump, the world finds itself in a transitional moment as the rules-based global order, its institutions and value system face a crisis of credibility and legitimacy
12 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
Albums
From unspooling love to decadent fun, our critics' picks of the year's finest LPs
10 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
A PARIS SPRINGBOARD
The decade since the 2015 climate accord has been bruising for activists and the planet. Some experts insist progress is being made-but is it really enough?
6 mins
December 19, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
Tragedy foretold How the rise in antisemitic incidents led to Bondi attack
Shortly after the mass shooting targeting Australia’s Jewish community last Sunday, Rabbi Levi Wolff of Central Sydney Synagogue told reporters that “the inevitable has happened now”.
3 mins
December 19, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size

