Naveen refused to take anyone for safety reason

Bengaluru: Naveen Gyana Gowda of Haveri district was killed in the heavy shelling in Kharkiv city of Ukraine on Tuesday. The 21-year-old was a fourth-year student of Kharkiv National Medical University. According to the other students staying with him in a bunker in the city, Naveen had gone to a nearby shop to fetch food and water. They got worried after he did not return even after three hours.

"While leaving for the shop he had even made a list of things to buy for all of us. He also refused to take anybody with him citing the reason of safety outside the bunker," one of the students Pavan said. Naveen,the second son of Shekarappa Gyana Gowda of Chelgeri village of Ranebennur, an agricultural town in Haveri district, was been a brilliant student.He scored 94 per cent in the recent sessional exams and wanted to do his MS either in India or in Ukraine and always wanted to come back and serve some time in his town.

"He often shared this dream with us," said his father Shekarappa. "We have limited income source and when Naveen got a medical seat in Ukraine we were happy to send him there and had made all arrangements. He was a good student and after every examination, he used to talk to us and share his score with us," Shekarappa said, in a brief statement to the media. His mother Vijayalakshmi was inconsolable.

Coming from a family of modest means Naveen had also done well in his PU examinations and the entrance tests for the medical courses in Ukraine which are as tough as they are in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai called Shekarappa Gowda and consoled the grieving family. Bommai who knew the family well got emotional while speaking to the media and took a long pause to recover his composure. "I have known Shekarappa Gowda and his family and his brother for a long time. I have promised them to go to the highest level to bring back the mortal remains of Naveen to Chelgeri village. I have also spoken to Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar who has assured of help," Bommai added.

Union Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi also spoke to the MEA for the recovery of Naveen's mortal remains which is stated to have been kept in a morgue.

Shekarappa worked in Saudi Arabia for some time as an engineer and a few years in Mysuru before returning to his village to take up agriculture in his two-acre land. "There was some financial stress in the family due to the cost of the medical education in Ukraine, but it is way cheaper than that is prevalent in India which is why my brother chose to go to Ukraine with the sole intention of not burdening the family," said Harsha, Naveen's brother.A pall of gloom descended on Chelgeri with villagers gathering near the house of Naveen and relatives from Haveri rushing to console the bereaved family.