Escuche esta historia
--:--
4:06
Family froze to death while trying to reach the United States
The drop in temperature of -35º C, played a very important role in the life of the family descended from India, who managed to get close to the border between Canada and the United States.
The family's body was found in an open field in Manitoba, a Canadian province. The family nucleus was made up of Jagdish Patel, 39 years old; his wife Vaishailben Patel, 37; and her two children, the oldest, Vihangi, 11, and Dharkmik, 3.
The identification of the bodies was in charge of the High Commission of India in Canada and the Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, acronym in English), was in charge of the confirmation of each one.
Likewise, the Canadian authorities consider that the death of this family is connected to human trafficking.
The residents of the Dingucha village, located in the Gujarat state of the Gandhinagar district, assured that the family would travel to Canada with a visitor's visa, approximately ten days ago.
One of the members of the council of that village (who preferred to remain anonymous), the relatives of the Patels decided to contact the authorities five days later, because they had no information on the status of the trip.
The person said that they made this decision because they thought it would help, as they were worried that they would be in trouble. Therefore, they decided to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The investigations carried out
Rob Hill, superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), reported through a press conference that January 12 was the day the members of the Pantel family arrived in Canada by flight to the city of Toronto.
He also commented that the family group went to the province of Manitoba, in the west of the country, before continuing their trip to the border city, Emerson, approximately on January 18. However, his remains were found the night of the following day.
No vehicles were seen in the search, in Emerson, the border between Canada and the United States. Due to this, the authorities estimate that someone was in charge of transporting the family, to a delivery point, before starting their journey on foot, despite the weather conditions.
The citizens of Dingucha assure that there is cultural pressure among the inhabitants to create connections outside their nation. Many of them are knowledgeable about the necessary requirements for foreign visas.
For the time being, RCMP staff have declined to comment on the possible link between the Patels and the other seven people, also citizens of India, who were discovered by border agents on January 19 at night.
A Florida citizen, Steve Shand, 47, was charged with human smuggling after authorities caught him driving a 15-person pickup truck across the border the night the Patels were caught.
Shand was accompanied by seven Indian men, as well as boxes of food and water in the suitcase.
Doubts about the event
Ramandeep Grewal, president of the Manitoba Indian Association, explained that there is a common sense of guilt, as if something has gone wrong.
There are many questions regarding the departure of the Patel family. They still don't understand why It was done on foot at night, when the winter weather in Canada was very strong. Grewal insists that people are not usually exposed to that degree of cold for a long time.
Hemant Shah, an Indian expat, created a virtual prayer for the Patel family. He commented in his remarks that there are many Patel families in the Indian community, many Indian Canadians. He also assured that all people are talking about the subject and each one creates a different theory.
Shah explained that this had never been seen in Canada, considering it unheard of.
Border crossings are extremely risky, and have become commonplace along the southern border of the United States.
Currently, an extreme investigation by the RCMP will be launched. They will be in charge of investigating the arrival of the Patels in Canada, in agreement with the United States and India. Until now, there is no information if the Patels had relatives in the US or Canada.
