SAEDNEWS: A retired Indian man made a mannequin of his late wife after she passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic, dressing it in her favorite clothes and jewelry to honor her memory and fulfill her dream.
According to Saednews, A retired Indian government employee has spent £2,500 creating a highly realistic silicone mannequin of his late wife, claiming that it was a wish she had expressed before her death.
According to reports, 65-year-old Tapas Sandilya dressed the lifelike figure in his wife Indrani’s favourite clothes and jewellery. The sari worn by the mannequin is the same one Indrani wore at their son’s wedding ceremony. Sandilya placed the figure on her favourite sofa inside their home in Kaikhali, West Bengal, India.
The mannequin was created by artist Subimal Das, who spent six months completing the project. The figure weighs around 30 kilograms and cost approximately 2.5 million Indian rupees (about £2,500).
Reports say that Sandilya lost his wife during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2021. She was admitted to hospital while he was forced to remain in isolation due to quarantine rules. Indrani, who was only 59 years old, passed away without anyone beside her hospital bed.
Sandilya said he wanted to fulfil his wife’s wish by creating the statue because she had once asked him to make a similar figure of her if she died before him.
Speaking to Times of India, he said: “Around a decade ago, we visited the ISKCON temple in Mayapur, and we could not take our eyes off the lifelike statue of AC Bhaktivedanta Swami. That was when Indrani told me that if she passed away before me, I should make a similar statue of her.”
Sandilya added: “My wife passed away on May 4, 2021, and I only wanted to fulfil her wish.”
He explained that he worked closely with the sculptor while the artist created a clay model of his wife, which later became the foundation for the silicone casting. Sandilya said: “Nothing less than Indrani’s real facial expression would have been acceptable to me. After all, I spent 39 years of my life with her.”
According to Indian government data, the country has recorded around 44.7 million COVID-19 cases, with approximately 530,100 deaths linked to the pandemic.
