Islamabad (Anantnag), Mar 12: A higher-secondary school drop-out, Riyaz Ahmad Khanday left his studies to support his poor family.
“It has been only a year since he started to work as a load carrier driver,” said Nazir Ahmad Khanday, Riyaz’s father who is a labourer.
“He availed a bank loan to purchase the load carrier and was toiling hard,” the father said with tears in his eyes.
Besides his parents, Riyaz is survived by elder brother and a younger sister. His brother is a vendor and sells readymade clothes in Islamabad (Anantnag) town.
“He left the studies midway as I and his elder brother were not able to meet the expenses of the family,” said Nazir.
The family is in a state of shock, unable to come to terms of the tragic loss. “We never thought that he would leave his home never to return,” said Bashir Ahmad, Riyaz’s elder brother.
The neighbours of the deceased describe Riyaz as a humble and down to earth soul. “He was a very shy person and would never confront anyone,” said a neighbour, Ghulam Rasool.
Relatives of the family who had come to mourn the death were also all praise for Riyaz. “He always made it sure to visit all his relatives frequently to inquire about their well being,” said one of the relatives, Ghulam Jeelani.
He said that Riyaz worked hard as he wanted to see his younger sister married soon.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 IST