65-year-old Kolkata man installs silicone statue of wife after she dies of Covid-19

New Delhi: A 65-year-old man in Kolkata’s Kaikhali installed a Rs 2.5 lakh silicone statue of his wife in their home after she passed away due to COVID-19. Tapas Sandilya, a retired government employee, lost his wife Indrani during the pandemic’s second wave. The lifelike statue is seated on the sofa, which was his wife’s favourite spot at the home.

The statue weighs 30 kg, in which late Indrani can be seen wearing gold jewellery and a silk sari from Assam, which is special as she wore it at her son’s wedding reception. The sculptor of the statue, Subimal Das, took more than six months to complete it. The statue was inspired by the lifelike statue of Isckon temple’s founder, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami.

In a conversation with TOI, Tapas Sandilya told that they visited the Iskcon temple in Mayapur a decade ago and there her wife asked him to install a similar statue if she passes away before him. He said that his wife died on 4 May 2021, and he just wanted to fulfil her wish.

Subimal Das makes silicone replicas for museums and he used photographs of Indrani’s face from different angles to make the initial clay model. Even Tapas helped the sculptor with the clay moulding. He also went to the tailor from whom her wife used to get her clothes stitched, in order to get the right measurements. Tapas told that his family opposed his idea of installing the statue, but some of his relatives and neighbours helped him.

Tapas also said that he cannot forget the time when he took his wife to the hospital, but the statue gives him some sense of his wife’s presence in the house.